Oral Health and Oral Health Promotion Programs in General Population and in Armed Forces

Oral health is integral to population’s general health and essential for the individuals’ well-being. The influence of oral health status in the quality of individuals’ life is very serious and health promotion sector includes activities and programs focused on oral health. At the same time, health systems of the general population as well as military health systems, worldwide, tend to re-orient their functional philosophy from the biomedical curative model towards preventive activities and health promotion. Aim: The aim of this literature review was to identify the relationship between the oral health status of the individual, the quality of life and health promotion and to study the impact of oral health promotion activities to general population and to military units. Method: Electronic medical databases were searched using as key-words the terms: “Oral Health”, “Quality of Life”, “Health Promotion”, “Oral Health Promotion”, “Oral Health Promotion Activities”, “Armed Forces”. The research was conducted in Greek and English language. At the same time, relative publications were searched in libraries of educational and nursing institutions in Greece and in Belgium. Of the total of the studies resulted, studies referred to the correlation of the key terms were included to the present study of literature. Results: Modern scientific research underlines that although oral health problems, in their majority, are not critical and threatening for the life of the individual, they affect decisively the physical, emotional, psychological and social dimension of health and therefore the quality of life. As about military population, oral health status influences decisively the combative units’ operational function. Conclusions: Oral health promotion activities are implemented and supported by the stakeholders in local, national and international level in order to maintain a satisfactory health status for the general population, as well as for the military population.