Dr. Waranuch Pitiphat
Waranuch is Dean and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Dentistry, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. She received DDS from Chulalongkorn University, MPHM from Mahidol University, MSc and ScD in Epidemiology from Harvard University, and is a Diplomate of the Thai Board of Dental Public Health. Waranuch is active in research particularly relating to the oral health-systemic disease link and epidemiology of oral diseases. She has over 90 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has served in numerous editorial boards, including Journal of Dental Research (JDR), JDR – Clinical & Translational Research, and Oral Diseases. Waranuch is Past President of the Asian Academy of Preventive Dentistry (AAPD) and the Thai Society of Public Health Dentistry. She is currently Honorary Secretary of the South East Asia Association for Dental Education (SEAADE), member of the Board of Directors of DeRouen Center for Global Oral Health at the University of Washington, USA, and Distinguished Adjunct Faculty of Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, India.
Title: Integrating oral health into national healthcare policy for aging society in Thailand
Summary:
It is apparent that oral health is an integral part of overall health and well-being, and this is especially critical in older adults. Oral diseases and inflammation have been shown to associated with many non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, oral functions are crucial for proper nutritional intake and quality of life. As Thailand is becoming an aged society, the government has launched a national healthcare plan for healthy aging with the participations of several sectors. This presentation will discuss how we have integrated oral healthcare into the national healthy aging scheme to provide comprehensive care, prevention and health promotion for healthy aging in Thailand.