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Advancing racial equity in oral health (research): more of the same is not enough
Author(s) -
Bastos João L,
Constante Helena M,
Celeste Roger K,
Haag Dandara G,
Jamieson Lisa M
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/eos.12737
Subject(s) - oppression , injustice , health equity , ethnic group , racism , equity (law) , race (biology) , public relations , sociology , medicine , political science , psychology , gender studies , social psychology , nursing , public health , law , politics
By critically appraising the literature on the oral health effects of race‐based oppression, this focus article makes four recommendations that may both facilitate more nuanced research on the topic and mitigate racial/ethnic inequities in (oral) health. The first is recognizing that science itself may perpetuate racial/ethnic injustice, such that adopting a ‘neutral’ position must be replaced with actively fostering anti‐racist narratives. The second is to not imply that racial oppression is bad because it harms oral health. Rather, studies should help build a fairer world, wherein oral health inequities would not abound. The third recommendation is encouraging initiatives that understand systems of oppression as conjointly operating to shape oral health. The fourth and final recommendation is taking race‐based oppression as a multi‐level system that operates on three inter‐related conceptual levels – intra‐personal, inter‐personal, and structural. The extent to which scholars, practitioners, and policymakers are willing to follow these recommendations may determine how successful attempts to eradicate (oral) health inequities might be. Learning from, and avoiding mistakes made in, previous publications is one ethical pathway towards this end.