Keynote Address: the Pillars of Oral Epidemiology: Then and Now

Abstract Body: The field of epidemiology has a long history of contributions in the study of dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) diseases and conditions. Epidemiologic applications have informed the population distribution of DOC diseases and conditions, their time trends, and their determinants. At the core of epidemiology is the scientific approach to asking and answering health-relevant questions, supported by high-quality data and state-of-the-art analysis methods. The presentation will provide an overview of foundational elements in the practice of oral epidemiology including study design, measurement and data collection, analysis methods, results interpretation and communication, and their evolution over time. A central thesis of the talk is that while enormous advances have been made in the scale, validity, and precision of DOC data available, the pillars of valid epidemiologic applications that can support the development of policy, public health and clinical practice, and primary scientific discovery, remain unchanged, and arguably more important then ever.