The future of the dental profession: perspectives from Oral Health in America: a report of the Surgeon General.

"The intent of this first-ever Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health is to alert Americans to the full meaning of oral health and its importance to general health and well-being" (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Thus began the introductory message from the Secretary for Health and Human Services to Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, released in May 2000. The centerpiece of the charge was to "define, describe, and evaluate the interaction between oral health and general health and well-being through the life span in the context of changes in society" (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). To address this charge, the report was science-based, prevention and health promotion-oriented, and focused on all life stages. Although the report stressed oral health, not the dental profession, the report's messages and themes are relevant to current and future dental practice, education, research, and to dentistry's role in the healthcare system.