The Alarming Burden of Non‐Communicable Diseases in COVID‐19 New Normal: Implications on Oral Health

Riad, Abanoub; Boccuzzi, Michela; Pold, Ave; Krsek, Martin

The coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) outbreak has triggered massive debates within dental professional organizations about prioritization of offered services, served groups, and required protective measures.(Volgenant et al., 2020) While navigating through the post‐outbreak era, we aim to demonstrate the importance of continuous global focus on the burden of non‐communicable diseases (NCDs) such as oral diseases. Oral diseases are the most prevalent NCDs worldwide consuming one‐fifth of out‐of‐pocket health expenditure and being recognized as the third most expensive condition to treat in Europe.(Peres et al., 2019) The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends prioritizing common risk factor approaches in all interventions targeting NCDs in order to draw attention to the multifaceted relationship between oral diseases and chronic conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancers.(Sheiham & Watt, 2000)