Commentary on Differences and Similarities Between Dental Schools at Public and Private Universities

Leadership in health professions education and the university in general has been the subject of intense scrutiny and observation in recent years. For a variety of reasons, universities and their component schools (including dental schools) are not always perceived to advance goals for the common good. The conclusion of this report is that common good unfolds from effective leadership. The report examined in the tenets for why oral health care matters and why it deserves more significant national attention. The failure for oral health issues to reach the national conscience is due, in large part, to ineffective leadership. Effective and apparent leadership styles are described in the paper, including the context of why effective leadership is more important now than ever. In addition, the characteristics of leaders to advance the public good are noted. Leadership necessary to reclaim the public trust in higher education is also discussed. Leadership and “followership” rallying around goals for the common good provide a significant path for dental schools and their parent universities to accomplish great things. The absolute necessary ingredient from which common good develops is effective leadership. Common good unfolds from effective leadership. The thesis proposed in this paper is that, for a variety of complex reasons, dental schools and universities are not always perceived to advance goals for the common good and, thus, both leaders and followers (in this case, faculty, students, alumni/ae, society) are compromised. Dental and oral health care continues to be marginalized in the deliberations of health policy makers, the health insurance industry, and the political dealmakers. A consequence of this continued marginalization is the lack of access to and appropriate use of oral health care, especially among some segments of the population, including special needs populations, underrepresented minorities, the working poor, lower socioeconomic groups, and immigrants. Although about 42 million individuals lack medical insurance, nearly 125 million individuals are without dental insurance. The tragedy is that compromise of the “common good”—access to and appropriate use of oral health care—is taking place against a backdrop of unprecedented advancements in science, technology, education, and medicine. In the past few decades, we have learned that oral diseases are not self-limiting, but are cumulative. They impact not only oral wellness, but also general health; and they affect job and school performance. More recently, data are confirming that oral diseases lead to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Exciting studies are being conducted that relate oral diseases to low birth weight infants. In addition, it is well known that a host of other systemic diseases have a unique relationship with oral tissues, including diabetes, human immunodeficiency viral disease (HIV) developmental disorders, autoimmune diseases, and osteoporosis. We also know that oral cancer is a leading cause of cancer with more than 33,000 cases diagnosed and 8,000 deaths a year. Oral diseases can impede an individual’s ability to speak, swallow and/or smile. They can also have a negative impact on an adolescent’s development of self-esteem and one’s employment potential. Oral diseases can result in loss of school and work time; they can disfigure; they can cause pain; they can lead to increased risk for heart disease; they can even kill! So why has this American tragedy happened and why does it continue to happen? This is a particularly vexing question when one realizes that the oral health of millions of people is unnecessarily compromised with disproportionate needs inequitably spread among population groups. Has this tragedy occurred because oral health is not important, or is it because leaders have not underscored its importance? While the United States purports to have the best oral health care in the world, and that may be true, surely it can be improved. Improvements in oral health, especially oral health care access, will take leadership at every level including politicians, university and health science center presidents, university governing boards,