Indigenous Oral Health Inequalities at an International Level: A Commentary

Lisa Jamieson, Dandara Haag, Helena Schuch, Kostas Kapellas, Rui Arantes and W. Murray Thomson
Additional contact information
Lisa Jamieson: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, School of Dentistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Dandara Haag: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, School of Dentistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Helena Schuch: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, School of Dentistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Kostas Kapellas: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, School of Dentistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Rui Arantes: Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande 79074-460, Brazil
W. Murray Thomson: School of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-6

Abstract: Oral health inequalities reflect social injustice. This is because oral health simultaneously reflects material circumstances, access to health services and inequities across the life course. Oral health inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations are among the largest in the world. This paper provides a critical commentary on Indigenous oral health inequalities at an international level based on existing literature and policies. We include the role of systematic and institutionalized racism and how this enables the persistence and flourishing of Indigenous oral health inequalities. We discuss theoretical frameworks—including Shiffman and Smith’s Political Power Framework—that underpin the power constructs that contribute to those. This theory posits that power is exercised in four ways: (i) the power of ideas; (ii) the power of the issue; (iii) the power of the actors; and (iv) the power of the political context. We will demonstrate, using examples of Indigenous oral health inequalities from several countries, how intervening at key leverage points, acting simultaneously on multiple subsystems and counteracting the social determinants of health are crucial strategies for ameliorating Indigenous oral health inequalities at a global level.

Keywords: indigenous; oral health inequalities; Shiffman and Smith’s Political Power Framework; social determinants of health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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