Pathways to Health Equity for Aboriginal Peoples
Oral health priority area

The most common oral conditions range from tooth decay, gum disease and injuries to chronic pain.^{Footnote 1}

More than 85% of Inuit children aged 3 to 5 have tooth decay.^{Footnote 2}

First Nations youth living on-reserve require more restorative (57% vs. 13%) and orthodontic treatment (14% vs. 6%) than youth in the general Canadian population.^{Footnote 3}

Why is oral health a priority for Pathways?

• Oral health is an important part of a person's overall health and well-being.
• Good oral health allows people to speak, eat, and socialize without pain, discomfort or embarrassment.
• Oral health disparities in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are well documented.
• Many oral health conditions are preventable.
• There are effective and affordable solutions, such as good oral hygiene habits and healthy dietary practices, but barriers to scale-up of these approaches need to be understood and overcome.

How will Pathways improve oral health?

Pathways will fund research to fill the gap between knowledge and action:

• It will study the scale-up of promising interventions.
• It will support research-community partnerships to generate evidence
• on which interventions work, for whom, and under which conditions.

CIHR-funded oral health research

CIHR has a strong history of supporting oral health research. Here are two examples of previously-funded projects:

Protecting Young Teeth

Dr. Herenia Lawrence of the University of Toronto is leading a community-based study in Ontario and Manitoba that combines multiple strategies to prevent tooth decay in very young children.

Starting a Conversation about Oral Health

Dr. Debbie H. Martin at Dalhousie University is working with Inuit youth and their caregivers to discuss oral health issues in their communities.

Date modified:

2014-12-11