Health System in Dentistry

The health system can be described on a fairly general level as the “totality of organized social action in response to the occurrence of disease and disability and for averting risks to health” (Schwartz and Busse 2003). Although this definition is broad and likely to meet with a wide measure of acceptance, it is not very useful for operational purposes. A narrower and therefore more practical definition subsumes within the concept of the health system “all institutions and activities directed towards the provision and funding of health benefits to the population” (Hajen et al. 2000). In this less wide-ranging sense, the term “health care system” is also used. The “oral health system ” can be defined in functional terms as “the combination of organizations, flows of finance, workforce training and structure, laws, regulations and accepted practice which are aimed at improving the oral health of individuals and communities” (Anderson et al. 1998).