Reporting the economic burden of oral diseases is important to evaluate the societal relevance of preventing and addressing oral diseases. In addition to treatment costs, there are indirect costs to consider, mainly in terms of productivity losses due to absenteeism from work. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the direct and indirect costs of dental diseases worldwide to approximate the global economic impact. Estimation of direct treatment costs was based on a systematic approach. For estimation of indirect costs, an approach suggested by the World Health Organization’s Commission on Macroeconomics and Health was employed, which factored in 2010 values of gross domestic product per capita as provided by the International Monetary Fund and oral burden of disease estimates from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Study. Direct treatment costs due to dental diseases worldwide were estimated at US$298 billion yearly, corresponding to an average of 4.6% of global health expenditure. Indirect costs due to dental diseases worldwide amounted to US$144 billion yearly, corresponding to economic losses within the range of the 10 most frequent global causes of death. Within the limitations of currently available data sources and methodologies, these findings suggest that the global economic impact of dental diseases amounted to US$442 billion in 2010. Improvements in population oral health may imply substantial economic benefits not only in terms of reduced treatment costs but also because of fewer productivity losses in the labor market.

Up-to-date information about the economic impact of dental diseases is essential for health care decision makers when seeking to make rational use of available resources. The purpose of this study was to provide up-to-date estimates for dental expenditures (direct costs) and productivity losses (indirect costs) due to dental diseases on the global, regional, and country level. Direct costs of dental diseases were estimated using a previously established systematic approach; indirect costs were estimated using an approach developed by the World Health Organization Commission on Macroeconomics and Health and factoring in 2015 values for gross domestic product and disability-adjusted life years from the Global Burden of Disease Study. The estimated direct costs of dental diseases amounted to $356.80 billion and indirect costs were estimated at $187.61 billion, totaling worldwide costs due to dental diseases of $544.41 billion in 2015. After adjustment for purchasing power parity, the highest levels of per capita dental expenditures were found for High-Income North America, Australasia, Western Europe, High-Income Asia Pacific, and East Asia; the highest levels of per capita productivity losses were found for Western Europe, Australasia, High-Income North America, High-Income Asia Pacific, and Central Europe. Severe tooth loss was found to imply 67% of global productivity losses due to dental diseases, followed by severe periodontitis (21%) and untreated caries (12%). From an economic perspective, improvements in population oral health may be highly beneficial and could contribute to further increases in people’s well-being given available resources.

The purpose of this study was to describe income-related inequalities in dental service utilization by the elderly populations residing in different European countries. We used data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE Wave 2), which contains information on utilization of dental services by 33,358 individuals aged 50+ years from 14 different countries. We assessed income-related inequalities in dental attendance and preventive and/or operative dental treatment by means of Concentration Indices (CI) and Slope Indices of Inequality (SII). We could identify a disproportionate concentration of access to treatment among the rich elderly populations in all 14 countries (relative inequality according to CI), as well as significantly higher access to treatment by individuals located in the highest in relation to the lowest income group for all countries except Italy and the Czech Republic (absolute inequality according to SII). Such differential utilization appears mainly attributable to inequalities in preventive dental visits, either alone or in combination with operative treatment. Persons’ oral health status explains substantial proportions of absolute but not of relative inequalities. Overall, there is considerable income-related inequality in dental service utilization by several elderly populations residing in Europe. More research is needed to identify the exact causes of such disparities.

The recent World Health Organization (WHO) Oral Health Resolution and the subsequent WHO Global Oral Health Action Plan highlight the key relevance of providing information on the economic impacts of oral conditions. The purpose of this study was to provide updated estimates for the global, regional, and country-level economic impacts of oral conditions in 2019. Extending previously established methods, dental expenditures (costs for treatments) and productivity losses for 5 oral conditions (caries in deciduous and permanent teeth, periodontitis, edentulism, other oral diseases) were estimated for the year 2019. The estimated total worldwide economic impacts of oral conditions in 2019 were US $710B, of which US $387B (US $327B to US $404B) was due to direct costs and US $323B (US $186 to US $460) was due to productivity losses for the 5 main oral conditions. Low-income countries spent an average of US $0.52 (US $0.22 to US $0.96) per capita on dental care, while high-income countries spent an average of US $260 (US $257 to US $268) per capita—a 500-fold difference. These findings suggest that oral conditions continue to substantiate an enormous economic burden to individuals and society. The comprehensiveness of estimates supersedes that of previous work as the primary information on direct costs was identified for a larger number of countries. The need for more and better routine reporting and monitoring of the economic impact of oral conditions is emphasized. The relevance of such information is also highlighted by its inclusion in the first-ever WHO Global Oral Health Status Report and Global Strategy on Oral health 2023 to 2030. Given the persistently high economic burden of oral conditions, there is a key role for better prioritization of cost-efficient oral health programs as well as needs-responsive capacity planning.

The purpose of the present study was to describe the survival of patients diagnosed with oral cavity cancer in Germany. The analyses relied on data from eleven population-based cancer registries in Germany covering a population of 33 million inhabitants. Patients with a diagnosis of oral cavity cancer (ICD-10: C00-06) between 1997 and 2006 are included. Period analysis for 2002–2006 was applied to estimate five-year age-standardized relative survival, taking into account patients' sex as well as grade and tumor stage. Overall five-year relative survival for oral cavity cancer patients was 54.6%. According to tumor localization, five-year survival was 86.5% for lip cancer, 48.1% for tongue cancer and 51.7% for other regions of the oral cavity. Differences in survival were identified with respect to age, sex, tumor grade and stage. The present study is the first to provide a comprehensive overview on survival of oral cavity cancer patients in Germany.