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Good oral health is important to overall health; poor oral health is linked not only to oral diseases but also to systemic disease. The most prevalent oral diseases secondary to poor oral health in Americans are dental caries and gingival and periodontal diseases. Periodontal disease may be related to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and diabetes, all of which are major causes of mortality in the United States (Miniño, Heron, Murphy, & Kochanek, 2007 ). Oral and pharyngeal cancers (OPC) account for only 2% of all cancers; however, according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program data, the 5-year survival rate is surprisingly low at 60.8% overall and only 37.3% for African-American men (National Cancer Institute, 2011 ). It is estimated that 7,900 Americans will die each year from OPC (National Cancer Institute, 2011 ). Mortality has shown no significant change over the past 30 years and is largely explained by the fact that approximately 66% of these cancers are diagnosed at a late stage (III and IV). This is in stark contrast to cancers involving other sites. The steepest drop in cancer deaths in the United States was reported in January 2007 (Jemal, Ward, & Thun, 2010 ). The greatest decline in mortality was in all four major cancer sites in men (lung, colon, rectum, and prostate) and in women (breast and colorectal), except for lung cancer among women. For most of these cancer sites, the decline reflects improvements in early detection and health promotion (Jemal et al., 2010 ).
Most oral diseases are preventable, with 75% of oral cancers being linked to tobacco and alcohol use (Glick & Greenberg, 2005 ), and effective options are available through early detection. Yet, less than two thirds of the people in the United States visit the dentist annually (Wall & Brown, 2003 ). The Surgeon General's national call to action to promote good oral health in 2000 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000 ) emphasized the need for all health care providers to be more proactive with oral disease prevention. Nurses are ideally situated to provide information regarding oral health to the people they care for, particularly those who are elderly and those...