Scope & Mission

Frontiers in Dental Medicine and Frontiers in Oral Health are complementary Journals embracing a common goal of synergistically improving health, wellness and quality of life globally. Frontiers in Dental Medicine and Frontiers in Oral Health seek articles within and beyond the oral health field, to promote transdisciplinary approaches and communications between dental/oral health researchers and other researchers, health professionals, policymakers and the public. Articles that are more mechanistic, from basic to clinical, would be better suited to Frontiers in Dental Medicine, whereas population oriented research and health promotion articles would be better suited to Frontiers in Oral Health.

Frontiers in Dental Medicine has a bold mission focused on ensuring that dental, oral and craniofacial health and diseases are understood in the context of the whole body. It advocates a transdisciplinary approach with the ultimate goal of accelerating oral and overall health outcomes for all communities. To achieve this goal, we will seek contributions from researchers where dental-oral health is an integral part of investigations on overall health mechanisms, i.e., a systems biology-based approach, to include biological, behavioral, and social factors that advance or disrupt health.

Why is this approach important? A significant amount of ongoing research and clinical practice lack an integrative approach across disciplines and professions. Most apparent is the separation of dental-oral considerations from the rest of overall health across much of the health enterprise - from wet bench science to delivery of healthcare itself. The results are devastating – a siloed (and sometimes stalled) approach to the science, and ineffective, fragmented and costly delivery systems. This separation has also led to the general perception that oral and dental health are somehow less important to overall health and well-being, and hence they are not prioritized in professional training, public policy or healthcare delivery. For underserved communities, this inattention to and lack of resources for oral health have resulted in significant and consequential disparities in oral health and access to care beyond those seen in other medical areas – disparities which could in part be ameliorated by integrated approaches to science, policy and healthcare.

There are potentially large pay offs in knowledge and public health to be gained from addressing questions such as why certain diseases manifest themselves differently in specific tissues or organs or why are there differences in the responsiveness of specific tissues to a given environmental factor. For example, individuals with diabetes have an exaggerated inflammatory response such as that associated with periodontal disease. Other conditions that would benefit from similar enquiries include, but are not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, the aging process, and autoimmune disease. As a second illustration, there is increased interest in understanding stem cell memory and the influence of the immune system across diverse tissues and applying this knowledge toward improving regeneration of tissues in the context of their specific environment. Such methodologies can vastly extend our knowledge of the mechanisms and signaling pathways controlling cell behavior for all tissues of the body and accelerate their translation into evidence-based clinical understanding.

Without a comprehensive and integrated approach to medical science that includes dental and oral health, our public policy will never provide the best answers to prevention, early detection and treatment for the most common diseases, as well as many rare ones. By attracting and giving visibility to such methodologies Frontiers in Dental Medicine, in synergy with Frontiers in Oral Health, will be a critical player in achieving our ultimate goal of improving the quality of life and well-being for all communities.  Frontiers in Dental Medicine is committed to advancing the importance of dental-oral factors in the health consciousness of professionals, researchers, policymakers and the public.

Submission

Frontiers in Dental Medicine is composed of the following Specialty Sections:

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