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Editorial


Dr. Mário M. Chaves, CEDROS Network Consultant
This first number of the CEDROS Network Bulletin is simultaneously an introduction and a convocation. As an introduction, it explains the origin of the idea of a network formed by individuals in institutions or in private dental practices, all working together in the solution of problems concerned with the oral health of the population. As a convocation, it invites people from different areas considered important for the network, to join their respective Working Group.

Since CEDROS is an open network, the only requirement for participation in it is to demonstrate effective work of research and development in one of the work lines chosen by the Network, viewing their potential contribution to the oral health of the population. The work lines, few at the beginning, will be multiplied with the presence of teachers, researchers and professionals interested in constituting new groups.

The CEDROS Network has ambitious aims. It intends to be a link among the organized profession, represented by its boards and associations, its dental services, and its academic institutions dedicated to education and research. It also intends to link Brazil to other Latin American countries, to the Hemisphere, and to the small planet we live in. Finally, it intends to stimulate, to facilitate, and to collaborate in projects involving university, public sector and private companies. The CEDROS Network is holistic in its comprehensiveness, systemic in its dynamics, and interdisciplinary in the field of the organization of knowledge. The orchestra in the illustration is a metaphor of the Network's work mechanism.

The CEDROS Network has a manifest international vocation, being located in a WHO Collaborating Center, the Coordination of Integrated Programs of Research and Development (COPIPED) of the Dental School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). However, concerning the operational aspect, its interest is pragmatic, involving projects to benefit destitute communities. The Network believes that successful experiences in the micro level give a basis to the formulation of national policies, in the macro level.

A recent example of a project in the micro level (municipal) in which the CEDROS Network had a marked catalyzer role was the salt fluoridation in Cabo Frio. The City Hall of Cabo Frio, the Salinas Perynas Company and a group of researchers from universities of Rio and São Paulo, gathered in working groups, were able to initiate in our country the use of a dental caries preventive measure reaching both urban and rural populations, and, moreover, with no cost for the public sector.

The beginning of the salt fluoridation in Cabo Frio took place on the 18th of June, 1992, "Corpus Christi" holiday. Although not emphasized by the national media, this date will become part of the history of Brazilian public health. The diffusion and dissemination of the measure will depend on the efforts of our leaders, and also on initiatives both at local and at state levels.

This brings us to the last point of this editorial: the need to form leaders with a broad view of dentistry at schools, at the public sector and at the corporate dentistry. This subject will be discussed in a North-South Meeting organized by the University of Puerto Rico with support of the Kellogg Foundation , to be held next August in Rio de Janeiro. The failure of the powerful, centralized Governments in Eastern Europe, demonstrated after an unhappy experience of several decades, led us to a revalue of the individual and his community. In our field, this means the creation of programs to form dental leaders who are able to conduct the transformations we foresee will soon take place in dental teaching, dental research and dental profession. The preparation of leaders is one more task, one more challenge for the CEDROS Network.


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