Oral Health: Fundamentals, Importance, and Perspectives

Abstract

Oral health is a fundamental and important part of the patient’s general health. It is very common to find texts that focus on diseases rather than on health, the proposal of this chapter is to address the importance of oral health maintenance, its impact on people’s lives, and the fundamental role of the dentist as a professional. Oral diseases are largely preventable or require only simple interventions if diagnosed and addressed at early stages. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the importance of the function of teeth and their supporting tissues for the health of the person, as well as the functions of esthetics, phonation, and mastication in the bio-psycho-social relationship of the human being, to demonstrate how fundamental, it is to maintain oral health.