Oral Health Research in Colombia: A field under construction

Abstract

Oral health constitutes an essential component of general health, due to the vital functions and processes that it supports and that make possible the material and symbolic dimensions of human life. In the Latin American context, the approach to oral health as a social and complex issue, which transcends conventional biomedical dentistry, is called "collective oral health" and has had different developments in the countries, with Brazil being its greatest exponent. In this way, this text seeks to characterize the process of construction of the social field of collective oral health in Colombia. For this, a review of literature published in specialized databases between 2005 and 2016 is carried out, a period in which progress was made in the formulation of global, regional, national and local oral health policies, in order to interpret the publications on oral health in Colombia, in light of the developments that Brazil has had, identifying the progress and challenges of the country in this field. In summary, it is observed that the social field of collective oral health in Colombia is under construction, it requires research efforts, interdisciplinary practices and social mobilization, in dialogue with other currents of critical thinking in health.