Mohamad Machmouchi

Dr. Mohamad Machmouchi graduated from Moscow Medical Stomatological University, Russia and received a Master in Dental Public Health from UCL London, England. He currently teaches at the Lebanese University, Department of Pedodontics and Dental Public Health.

Lecture title: The Upstream-Downstream Concept in Oral Health

Lecture abstract: Dental caries continues to pose an important public health problem across the world. According to the World Health Organization, dental caries affects about 60-90% of schoolchildren, the vast majority of adults and contributes to an extensive loss of natural teeth in older people globally.

High-quality appropriate dental care should encompass the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency. Many dental procedures are ineffective, and some preventive measures are inefficient. A common criterion on first dental intervention is essential to use before carrying out any clinical procedure. Applying the criteria will lead to minimal intervention and therefore unnecessary dental treatment will be reduced.

In this lecture, the Upstream-Downstream concept will be discussed as well as basic issues in Dental Public health.