Oral Health Plans

The CDC calls the Oral Health Plan “a road map for accomplishing the goals and objectives that have been developed in collaboration with partners and stakeholders.” Oral health as a serious health issue first came into focus with the 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s landmark report, Oral Health in America. That seminal report documented America’s oral “burden of disease” and presented evidence of a “silent epidemic” of dental and oral diseases. The report’s central message was that oral health is essential to general health and can be improved despite several significant barriers.

In 2002, Illinois used the Surgeon General’s report as a springboard to engage partners interested in improving oral health and was one of the first states to develop a state oral health plan.

Illinois Oral Health Plan IV: Eliminating Inequities in Oral Health represents a coordinated approach to lead oral health improvement, tackle barriers to health care, and begin to use a social determinants of health approach. With a five-year timeline, the success of the overall initiative can be realized by increasing the health knowledge of the public, expanding health promotion, strengthening primary prevention efforts, and improving access to services.

The Illinois Oral Health Surveillance Plan provides a strategic approach to the development and implementation of Illinois oral health surveillance system. The plan aligns with the Illinois Oral Health Plan IV: Eliminating Inequities in Oral Health (2021 – 2025) and Healthy People 2030 (HP2030) Oral Conditions Objectives.

The goal of the surveillance system is to monitor state-specific, population‐based oral disease burden and trends, measure changes in program capacity and community water fluoridation quality. This information is vital to assist organizations throughout the state to plan, to implement, and to evaluate appropriate interventions that will truly improve the oral health of Illinoisans.

• Oral Health Plan IV
• Oral Health Surveillance Plan 2021-2025