USER

In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General's Report, Oral Health in America, served as a call to action for all health professions to play a role in reducing the burden of oral disease in America. Over a decade later, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports, Advancing Oral Health in America and Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations, reinforced the importance of oral health and highlighted the centrality of the nursing profession in improving oral health outcomes.  One of the IOM recommendations was to invest in "workforce innovations to improve oral health that focus on core competency development, education and training, to allow for the use of all health care professionals in oral health care". The IOM Committee's vision for oral health care in the United States, "everyone has access to quality oral health care across the life cycle", is perfectly aligned with the New York University College of Nursing's Oral Health Nursing Education and Practice initiative.