Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 4

How Does a Strong Social Safety Net Affect Oral Health? How different is the oral health of high-income people from low-income people? Has the difference grown or shrunk over time? How do different social welfare systems impact inequalities in oral health? D r. Malini Chari used data from four national surveys conducted in the 1970s and 2000s— two from Canada and two from the United States—to consider these questions in a recent study. 1 “We know that oral health inequality is impacted by social determinants of health, which are strongly influenced by sociopolitical factors,” says Dr. Chari. “Both Canada and the U.S. are liberal welfare states with mostly private oral health care systems. The main difference is that Canada provides more social assistance to low-income citizens and Canada’s A dental public health specialist and former graduate student at the University of Toronto, Dr. Malini Chari is now the national oral health advisor at Indigenous Services Canada. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of the Canadian Dental Association. 26 | 2022 | Issue 4