An Adapted Framework for Incorporating the Social Determinants of Health into Predoctoral Dental Curricula

Social determinants of health (SDH) impact the overall health and well-being of the entire population. It is imperative to train future health care professionals to develop an understanding of the impact of these determinants, so they can provide contextual treatment more conscious of the culturally, racially, and socioeconomically diverse populations they will care for during their careers. This article, the second in a series of American Dental Education Association Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education 2.0 white papers on SDH, introduces a conceptual framework adapted from the original framework presented by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that can be applied to predoctoral dental curricula. This framework is organized into three domains: education, organization, and community. The domains are explained, and examples of current implementation efforts at several academic dental institutions are provided to help dental educators envision how to incorporate these concepts into their own curricula.