Sound substantive knowledge about questions and methods used to address those questions, tempered by reasoned analysis and considered inferences are the responsibility of epidemiologists as a service to science. Epidemiology draws important understanding from other disciplines to study the distribution and determinants of health-related states and their outcomes in populations. The oral epidemiologists’ charge is to adapt epidemiological techniques for answering questions related to health states in the oral and craniofacial region of the body. In the following chapters, we will traverse several exciting and varied terrains on this fascinating journey.
It may be argued that because, by definition, epidemiology is a study of health states in populations, it has little role in basic sciences, which are mostly concerned with narrowly focused laboratory-based projects assessing causal relationships. However, epidemiological concepts have major applications in basic science, general clinical research, and public health as well. The phenomenal growth of molecular applications in everyday health care, genome- and stem cell-based reorientation of medical applications and developments in neurobiology to name a few events, have changed the paradigm of epidemiology from being viewed as being remote to basic science. In current day practice, scientific studies, whether those are laboratory-aided computational biology studies, clinical trials, population-based observational studies, hospital-based clinical studies, or computer-based in-silico simulation studies, all use epidemiological principles.
The range of disciplines that oral epidemiology covers is vast, which makes it a truly inter-/multi-/trans-disciplinary subject. Although several excellent books exist that discuss epidemiologic methods and analysis, none deal with oral health issues to serve as a ready-reckoner and quick general reference for oral health students, practitioners, and researchers to help assimilate and organize scientific information for drawing logical inferences. Oral Health Epidemiology - Principles and Practice by Amit Chattopadhyay was conceived to fill this lacuna in this growing field. It is expected to stir interest among a variety of persons associated with oral and craniofacial health research who think of epidemiology holistically, as a basic and necessary science of not only public health, but for all clinical and basic science research. This book will appeal to a wide readership.
Oral Health Epidemiology - Principles and Practice by Amit Chattopadhyay, in general, refrains from presenting descriptive data about disease burden that are found in several other books and reports dealing with various aspects of oral and craniofacial health. Instead, this book emphasizes the application of epidemiological principles in oral health studies, and aims to encourage the reader to think critically about different aspects of studies that may impact their results and interpretation by approaching application of epidemiological principles in oral and craniofacial health research from a conceptual stand point. Although mathematics is the language of science, there exists a serious risk of getting lost in the myriad formulas and symbolism, especially for those who have left the subject behind and spent a substantial part of their scientific lives in applied biological and clinical fields and in the company of peri-basic mathematical skills only. Therefore, this book has kept mathematical formulas to a minimum, and tried to explain the concepts and implications of those formulae in a way that may be easily decipherable for the non-mathematically oriented intelligent professional. The key to epidemiology is logical and critical thinking––the complex analytical tools come in as important support systems for good epidemiological practice.
Contents
SECTION I EPIDEMIOLOGIC CONCEPTS IN ORAL HEALTH
1 Definition and Background
2 Study Design
3 Associations and Causation
4 Measuring Associations
5 Error and Bias
6 Confounding and Effect Measure Modification
7 Analytical Approaches: The Data
8 Analytical Approaches: Analyses
9 Qualitative Research
10 Survey Sampling and Surveillance
11 Pharmacoepidemiology
12 Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology
SECTION II EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ORAL DISEASES AND CONDITIONS
13 Dental Caries
14 Periodontal Diseases
15 Oral Cancer
16 Other Oral Diseases and Conditions
17 Fluorides
SECTION III ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY IN SOCIOBIOLOGICAL CONTEXT
18 Social Epidemiology
19 Bioethics in Oral Health
20 Systems Thinking
References
Index
It may be argued that because, by definition, epidemiology is a study of health states in populations, it has little role in basic sciences, which are mostly concerned with narrowly focused laboratory-based projects assessing causal relationships. However, epidemiological concepts have major applications in basic science, general clinical research, and public health as well. The phenomenal growth of molecular applications in everyday health care, genome- and stem cell-based reorientation of medical applications and developments in neurobiology to name a few events, have changed the paradigm of epidemiology from being viewed as being remote to basic science. In current day practice, scientific studies, whether those are laboratory-aided computational biology studies, clinical trials, population-based observational studies, hospital-based clinical studies, or computer-based in-silico simulation studies, all use epidemiological principles.
The range of disciplines that oral epidemiology covers is vast, which makes it a truly inter-/multi-/trans-disciplinary subject. Although several excellent books exist that discuss epidemiologic methods and analysis, none deal with oral health issues to serve as a ready-reckoner and quick general reference for oral health students, practitioners, and researchers to help assimilate and organize scientific information for drawing logical inferences. Oral Health Epidemiology - Principles and Practice by Amit Chattopadhyay was conceived to fill this lacuna in this growing field. It is expected to stir interest among a variety of persons associated with oral and craniofacial health research who think of epidemiology holistically, as a basic and necessary science of not only public health, but for all clinical and basic science research. This book will appeal to a wide readership.
Oral Health Epidemiology - Principles and Practice by Amit Chattopadhyay, in general, refrains from presenting descriptive data about disease burden that are found in several other books and reports dealing with various aspects of oral and craniofacial health. Instead, this book emphasizes the application of epidemiological principles in oral health studies, and aims to encourage the reader to think critically about different aspects of studies that may impact their results and interpretation by approaching application of epidemiological principles in oral and craniofacial health research from a conceptual stand point. Although mathematics is the language of science, there exists a serious risk of getting lost in the myriad formulas and symbolism, especially for those who have left the subject behind and spent a substantial part of their scientific lives in applied biological and clinical fields and in the company of peri-basic mathematical skills only. Therefore, this book has kept mathematical formulas to a minimum, and tried to explain the concepts and implications of those formulae in a way that may be easily decipherable for the non-mathematically oriented intelligent professional. The key to epidemiology is logical and critical thinking––the complex analytical tools come in as important support systems for good epidemiological practice.
Contents
SECTION I EPIDEMIOLOGIC CONCEPTS IN ORAL HEALTH
1 Definition and Background
2 Study Design
3 Associations and Causation
4 Measuring Associations
5 Error and Bias
6 Confounding and Effect Measure Modification
7 Analytical Approaches: The Data
8 Analytical Approaches: Analyses
9 Qualitative Research
10 Survey Sampling and Surveillance
11 Pharmacoepidemiology
12 Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology
SECTION II EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ORAL DISEASES AND CONDITIONS
13 Dental Caries
14 Periodontal Diseases
15 Oral Cancer
16 Other Oral Diseases and Conditions
17 Fluorides
SECTION III ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY IN SOCIOBIOLOGICAL CONTEXT
18 Social Epidemiology
19 Bioethics in Oral Health
20 Systems Thinking
References
Index
Book Details
- Hardcover: 350 pages
- Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 1 edition
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0763754099
- ISBN-13: 978-0763754099
- Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches