ORAL HEALTH CARE FOR REFUGEES: SMILES WITHOUT BORDER A NARRATIVE REVIEW

The past decades of war and armed conflict in have created an acute humanitarian crisis with restricted population access to food, clean water and basic services including healthcare and medicines. Assuming people have a desire for choice and control over their own health, they can become engaged, informed, collaborative, committed and tolerant of uncertainty. Critically, the refugee population cannot be at this level of empowerment whilst experiencing the stress of resettlement. These are people who are sometimes identified as high need clients due to the length of time spent in refugee camps, their lack of personal support networks and the additional assistance and resources needed to address the settlement challenges they. Oral diseases (i.e. dental caries and periodontitis) are a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease. Although the prevalence of these diseases differed between the studies, the levels of diseases were always higher for refugees compared to levels reported for the wider populations of the host countries. For these reasons, better knowledge and professional assessment of dental treatment were strongly recommended for this population.