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| Letter
from the Surgeon General |
| References |
| Credits & funding |
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CME information (pdf) |
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Message
to Primary Care Providers
from Dr. David Satcher, former Surgeon General, United States Public Health Service |
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On May 25, 2000, I released the first-ever Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health to provide Americans with information to understand the full implications of oral health and its relationship to general health and well-being. The report concluded that oral health is integral to overall health. Given the dental access problem in the City of Detroit, your collaboration to screen for oral health problems, provide preventive advice to your patients, and refer patients with dental needs to community-based dental clinics or private dentists can significantly help in reducing the burden of advanced oral and dental problems in low-income Detroiters. I am also pleased to know the training program prepared by the Voices of Detroit Initiative will include information and hands-on demonstrations of how to screen for oral cancer and provide tobacco cessation advice and nicotine replacement therapy. Oral cancer is a silent killer, especially in African Americans and low-income Americans. Tobacco smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in our nation, and those who suffer the most are poor Americans, minority populations, and young people. Although our knowledge remains imperfect, we know more than enough to address the tobacco control challenges of the 21st century. I applaud your effort as primary care health providers in Detroit to reduce the burden of diseases associated with oral conditions and use of tobacco products. Thank you for your effort to promote oral health and reduce tobacco use in the City of Detroit.
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