From margins to mainstream: reimagining oral health in integrated healthcare.

Oral health remains persistently marginalised within mainstream healthcare despite the global burden of preventable oral diseases and growing recognition of the need for integrated, person-centred care. This perspective paper examines the structural, professional, and educational barriers that continue to separate oral health from broader health systems, including limited interprofessional collaboration, fragmented service delivery, and underutilisation of the oral health practitioner workforce. Drawing on international policy directions and emerging models of integrated care, the paper argues that oral health practitioners are well positioned to support prevention, early intervention, health promotion, and care coordination across healthcare settings. The authors highlight the importance of workforce utilisation, interprofessional education, policy alignment, and system-level collaboration in advancing equitable access to oral healthcare. Through a globally informed perspective, this paper proposes practical priorities for embedding oral health within integrated healthcare systems and repositioning oral health as a fundamental component of overall health and wellbeing.