The identification of agreed criteria for referral following the dental inspection of children in the school setting.
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AIM: To clarify the function of the school based dental inspection. OBJECTIVE: For representatives of the Community Dental Service, General Dental Service and Hospital Dental Service to identify an agreed set of criteria for the referral of children following school dental inspection. DESIGN: Qualitative research methodology used to establish a consensus for the inclusion of referral criteria following dental screening. SETTING: Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. MATERIALS: A Delphi technique was used to establish a consensus amongst the study participants on the inclusion of nine possible criteria for referral following dental screening. All participants scored each criterion in the range 1-9, with a score of 1 indicating that referral of individuals with the condition should definitely not take place, and a score of 9 indicating referral should definitely take place. Referral criteria were accepted only if they achieved a group median score of 7 or more, with an interquartile range of three scale points, with the lower value being no less than 7. RESULTS: Four of the nine possible criteria met the agreed group standard for inclusion: 'Sepsis', 'Caries in the secondary dentition', 'Overjet > 10 mm', and 'Registered & caries in the permanent dentition'. CONCLUSION: It is possible to agree clear criteria for the referral of children following the school dental inspection. (+info)
The use of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment need (IOTN) in a school population and referred population.
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The aim of this study is to assess the need for orthodontic treatment in a Turkish school population and a group of population referred for orthodontic treatment. The study groups were 250 school children, 11-14 years of age, and 250 patients, 11-14 years of age, referred to the department of orthodontics. The Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) was used by two examiner in order to estimate the treatment need. The differences between the IOTN values for the boys and girls were also not statistically significant in both groups. When the dental health component of IOTN is considered, 38.8 per cent of Turkish school population showed great need treatment, 24.0 per cent moderate need treatment and slight or no need was 37.2 per cent. On the other hand, the referred population represented an 83.2 per cent great need treatment, 12.0 per cent moderate need treatment, 4.8 per cent no need treatment according to the DHC. The AC of IOTN in school population resulted in 4.8 per cent great need, 4.8 per cent moderate need, 90.4 per cent no need. These percentage were 36.8 per cent great need, 17.6 per cent moderate need, 45.2 per cent no need in referred population. Grade 8 was 28.8 per cent out of the 36.8 per cent great need percentage in referred population. Therefore, it can be concluded that the ectopic canines were the driving factor for the referred population. (+info)
Reexamining educational philosophy: the issue of professional responsibility, "Cleveland First".
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This paper proposes a shift of emphasis in the dental curriculum from measures to protect and improve the oral health of individuals to measures to protect and improve the oral health of the community or society. This shift represents a fundamental change in educational philosophy of the dental school. To illustrate this shift in emphasis, this paper describes a demonstration project to test the feasibility of this approach involving all seventy first-year students in the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry in a four-week experience placing dental sealants in erupting molars of second and sixth graders in fifty schools of the Cleveland City School System. In future years, the program is expected to reach all second and sixth graders in the Cleveland School System. The experience is a required integral component of the curriculum, involving every student in the class, and is designed to make a demonstrable difference in oral health in the City of Cleveland. The experience is reinforced with course material on professional responsibility. The school is developing additional intensive experiences for second-, third-, and fourth-year classes involving smoking prevention for adolescents, oral health maintenance for nursing home residents, and dental care delivery in the inner city. The initial year of the program has had effects on students' responses to other elements of the first-year curriculum that go beyond the experience of placing sealants in children's teeth. The focused efforts of dental students every year are expected to have a measurable effect on the disparities in oral health found in the City of Cleveland as well as a measurable effect on dental students' and dentists' attitudes concerning professional responsibility. (+info)
Evaluation of a fissure sealant program as part of community-based teaching and training.
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Since 1995 the Department of Community Dentistry of the University of Pretoria has been involved in the rendering of mobile primary oral health care services to children in the Hammanskraal area of Gauteng, South Africa, as part of their students' community-based training. Mokonyama Primary School was identified as the first school where a primary oral health care service could be rendered. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact (outcomes) of a fissure sealant program on the dentition status of the school children. Seven years after the implementation of the program, the dentition status of children at Mokonyama was compared with that of a comparable group of children from the same area who were not exposed to the program. The results showed that the decayed, missing, and filled teeth in the primary dentition (dmft) in the six-year-old group in Mokonyama (1.74) did not differ significantly from the dmft (1.43) of the control group (p = 0.49). The decayed, missing, and filled teeth in the permanent dentition (DMFT) of 0.59 for the fifteen-year-old group in Mokonyama, however, differed significantly (p = 0.0001) from the DMFT of the control group (2.38). Fifteen-year-old children in Mokonyama had 75.2 percent fewer caries than their counterparts in the control group. (+info)
Early clinical experience for first-year dental students.
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Over the past three years we have exposed our first-year dental students at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine to an early clinical experience. Following a seventy-two-hour didactic and laboratory course, first-year students spend over 100 hours treating school children in twenty-eight elementary and middle schools in the Cleveland Municipal School District. Not only do dental students learn a clinical procedure, but more importantly they experience the need for health care, in particular, dental care among those less fortunate than themselves. The experience strengthens their desire to help the under-served, their understanding of the problems many face in obtaining oral health care, and their commitment to addressing these issues. Themes from student reflection papers are summarized. (+info)
Does school-based dental screening for children increase follow-up treatment at dental school clinics?
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a screening program and referral system in stimulating dental attendance of children in need of treatment at Bapuji Dental College and Hospital of Davangere, India. A total of fourteen schools in the Davangere area were selected randomly and divided into two groups: seven schools that had a dental screening program (study group, n=2100 children), and seven schools that did not have one (control group, n=2400 children). The attendance rate by members of the study group was determined during the three-month period from the date of initiating the school screening program. During this same period the students who visited the college from the control group underwent a dental examination. Chi-square tests were used to test the difference between different variables. The response rate for seeking treatment was 31 percent for the study group (34.2 percent for males; 26.2 percent for females) and 10 percent for the control group (9.6 percent for males; 10.5 percent for females). In both the groups, the treatment need was highest for dental caries (study group=36.3 percent, control group=11.1 percent) and least for fluorosis (study group=21.2 percent, control group=1.2 percent). The study demonstrated that screening and motivation significantly improved the percentage of school children who sought dental care. (+info)
The importance of fluoride dentifrices to the current dental caries prevalence in Brazil.
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Similar to that which occurred in most developed countries, dental caries have shown a significant decline in Brazil over the last two decades. Water fluoridation, expansion of preventive programs at schools, and especially, the widespread use of fluoride dentifrice are discussed as factors related to this reduction in caries. Data from epidemiological surveys and historical facts are presented to support the importance of fluoride dentifrices to the current caries prevalence in Brazil. (+info)
The distribution of burden of dental caries in schoolchildren: a critique of the high-risk caries prevention strategy for populations.
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BACKGROUND: The 'high-risk approach' is a commonly adopted strategy recommended for the prevention of dental caries in populations. The scientific basis for the strategy has been questioned. The objective of this study is to assess the contribution that children identified at 'high-risk' made towards the total of new caries lesions over a 4-year period, by analysing the distribution of new lesions per 100 children. METHODS: Data are from the National Preventive Dentistry Demonstration Programme (NPDDP) in the United States. The analyses identified the distribution of new carious lesions over a 4-year period in four groups of 7 year-old children who received differing preventive regimes. RESULTS: The majority of new lesions occurred in those children classified at lowest caries risk at baseline. Irrespective of the preventive regime adopted and the initial caries levels, children classified as 'highest risk' contributed less than 6% of the total number of new lesions developing over 4 years. CONCLUSION: These findings challenge the basis for the adoption of a high-risk strategy. (+info)