Community Dental Health

cover art

Cover Date:
June 2019
Print ISSN:
0265 539X
Electronic ISSN:
2515-1746
Vol:
36
Issue:
2

Transnational corporations, oral health and human agency: a sociological perspective

10.1922/CDH_SpecialIssueGibson06

Transnational corporations, oral health and human agency: a sociological perspective [Special issue of Community Dental Health, to be disseminated at ‘Transnational Corporation and Oral Health Inequalities’ IADR symposium, June 2019, Vancouver]


This paper explores the range of approaches that might be adopted in order to take seriously the challenge that Transnational Corporations
(TNCs) pose to inequalities in oral health. The challenge we must face together is the challenge of promoting freedom from disease and
enabling all humans to flourish. The paper examines how the goals of the new public health might be better realised through consideration
of the ‘corporate determinants of health’. It is argued that in order to meaningfully engage with the challenge posed by TNCs in oral health
we have to recognise that not all TNCs are evil. Indeed some TNCs have played a central role in the improvements in the oral health of
populations over the last fifty or so years. The paper goes on to outline how an awareness of different professional strategies can be used
to frame an interdisciplinary programme of work looking at the role of TNCs in oral health. These strategies involve a professional focus
on data collection and analysis, a focus on policy, being critical, being publicly involved, and acting with foresight. The paper goes on
to provide an outline of how these strategies might be pursued to engage TNCs in a programme of research around inequalities in oral
health. It is proposed that we form a broad collaboration between appropriate TNCs, academics and funders. This paper provides a very
brief sketch about how such a program might be envisaged.
“Did you ever expect a corporation to have a conscience, when it has no soul to be damned and no body to be kicked? (And by God, it
ought to have both!).” (The First Baron Thurlow [1731–1806] Lord (Chancellor of England. Cited in Banarjee, 2008).
“In the corporate economies of the contemporary West, the market is a passive institution. The active institution is the corporation …
an inherently narrow and shortsighted organization … The corporation has evolved to serve the interests of whoever controls it, at the
expense of whomever does not.” (Duggar, 1989 cited in Banarjee, 2008).

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
169
Page End
174
Authors
Professor B Gibson

Articles from this issue

  • Title
  • Pg. Start
  • Pg. End

  1. Editorial - How soon is soon enough? The challenge of implementing behaviours conducive to good oral health in at-risk infants and toddlers
  2. 89
  3. 90

  1. Patient and professional engagement in the procurement of dental services
  2. 91
  3. 94

  1. A qualitative study on the oral health of humanitarian migrants in Canada
  2. 95
  3. 100

  1. What influences use of dental services by the Korean disabled people? The role of perceived barriers in dental care system
  2. 101
  3. 105

  1. In-school toothbrushing programs in Aboriginal communities in New South Wales, Australia: A thematic analysis of teachers’ perspectives
  2. 106
  3. 110

  1. Relationship between Caregivers’ Oral Health Literacy and their Child’s Caries Experience
  2. 111
  3. 117

  1. What evidence do economic evaluations in dental care provide? A scoping review
  2. 118
  3. 125

  1. The Effectiveness of Reform in the Dental Health Systems of Transitional Countries: The Case of Montenegro Health Reform (pilot study)
  2. 126
  3. 130

  1. Costs of dental care and its financial impacts on patients in a population with low availability of services
  2. 131
  3. 136

  1. Identifying the barriers and facilitators for homeless people to achieve good oral health
  2. 137
  3. 142

  1. Comparison of two measures to determine the oral health-related quality of life in elders with periodontal disease
  2. 143
  3. 149

  1. Transnational corporations and oral health inequalities; an introduction
  2. 151
  3. 151

  1. Political economy, trade relations and health inequalities: lessons from general health
  2. 152
  3. 156

  1. Transnational corporations and oral health: examples from the sugar industry
  2. 157
  3. 162

  1. The Transnational Tobacco Industry and Oral Health
  2. 163
  3. 168

  1. Transnational corporations, oral health and human agency: a sociological perspective
  2. 169
  3. 174