Introduction - Although oral health has been excluded from many of the primary health care reforms in Australia, oral health is an important component of the health system. Definitions of an area of practice such as primary oral health care are important because they allow the development of research and theory, practice, policy and planning, to also be conceptualised, developed and implemented.
Method - Peer-reviewed journals were searched to examine the history of the use and development of the definition of the terms “primary oral health care”. This was compared with the term “primary dental health care” and considered with use of the term primary health care.
Results - A literature search found three definitions of primary oral health care. The Jeboda definition was created for a low resourced country and focused on the community context (Nigeria). The Isman definition focuses on the oral health system entry point and integration of health services while the last definition (Irish Government) concentrated on control and prevention of dental disease without expensive procedures. We explore the use of the term in the literature and how it compares with variation in the use of the term primary health care.
Conclusion – Consideration of a definition of primary oral health care and use of the term is important in determining and defining how oral health “fits” in the context of primary health care.