Is poor oral health a dental issue or a social issue?

Is poor oral health a dental issue or a social issue? Is the solution to reducing increasing rates of tooth decay and periodontal disease found within the four walls of the dental clinic, or is there a need to step back and consider this as a social problem as well? In this episode of Dental As Anything, I talk about the inverse care law, how that plays out in the maldistribution of the oral health workforce, and the important role dental practitioners have in tackling the social causes of dental disease.