Dataset Information

Effectiveness of school dental screening on dental visits and untreated caries among primary schoolchildren: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Dental caries is one of the most common diseases affecting children in Saudi Arabia despite the availability of free dental services. School-based dental screening could be a potential intervention that impacts uptake of dental services, and subsequently, dental caries' levels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two alternative approaches for school-based dental screening in promoting dental attendance and reducing untreated dental caries among primary schoolchildren. METHODS:This is a cluster randomised controlled trial comparing referral of screened-positive children to a specific treatment facility (King Saud University Dental College) against conventional referral (information letter advising parents to take their child to a dentist). A thousand and ten children in 16 schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be recruited for the trial. Schools (clusters) will be randomly selected and allocated to either group. Clinical assessment for dental caries will be conducted at baseline and after 12 months by dentists using the World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. Data on sociodemographic, behavioural factors and children's dental visits will be collected through structured questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. The primary outcome is the change in number of teeth with untreated dental caries 12 months after referral. Secondary outcomes are the changes in the proportions of children having untreated caries and of those who visited the dentist over the trial period. DISCUSSION:This project should provide high level of evidence on the clinical benefits of school dental screening. The findings should potentially inform policies related to the continuation/implementation of school-based dental screening in Saudi Arabia. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov , ID: NCT03345680 . Registered on 17 November 2017.

SUBMITTER: Alayadi H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5899334 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Effectiveness of school dental screening on dental visits and untreated caries among primary schoolchildren: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Alayadi Haya H Sabbah Wael W Bernabé Eduardo E

Trials 20180413 1

<h4>Background</h4>Dental caries is one of the most common diseases affecting children in Saudi Arabia despite the availability of free dental services. School-based dental screening could be a potential intervention that impacts uptake of dental services, and subsequently, dental caries' levels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two alternative approaches for school-based dental screening in promoting dental attendance and reducing untreated dental caries among prima ...[more]

PMID: 29653545

Similar Datasets

Project description:Monitoring social inequalities in dental caries is crucial for establishing priorities in oral health systems. This study aimed to assess economic inequalities in dental caries and its contributing factors among Iranian schoolchildren. Data were obtained from the first phase of the Shahroud Schoolchildren Eye Cohort Study in 2015. A total of 4992 children aged 6-12 years old were included in the analysis. Dental examinations were conducted following the diagnostic methods and standards of the Oral Health Examination Survey, as recommended by the World Health Organization. The concentration index (C) was utilized to assess economic inequalities in dental caries. Additionally, the decomposition of C was employed to explain the determinants of the measured inequalities. In total, 71.4% of the schoolchildren had dental caries in primary dentition (dft≥1), and 41.6% of the schoolchildren had dental caries in permanent dentition (DMFT≥1). The Cs of dft≥1, primary decayed teeth (pdt≥1), and permanent missing teeth (PMT≥1) were -0.136 (95% CI: -0.167, -0.104), -0.164 (95% CI: -0.194, -0.134), and -0.208 (95% CI: -0.262, -0.153), respectively, which indicates their more concentration among low-economic children. Conversely, pft≥1 and PFT≥1 had Cs of 0.327 (95% CI: 0.292, 0.361) and 0.218 (95% CI: 0.179, 0.256), showing more concentration among high-economic children. Basic health insurance coverage and age were the main contributors that explained 28.6% and 19.2% of the economic inequality in dft≥1, and 25.7% and 16.6% of the pdt≥1 inequality, respectively. Economic status, residence in rural areas, mother education, father education, and age were the main contributors to the measured inequality in pft≥1 by 80.5% and 26.5%, 21.9%, 22%, and -18.3%, respectively. Economic status, having a housekeeper mother, residence in rural areas, having basic health insurance coverage, mother education, and father education positively contributed to the measured inequality in PMT≥1 by 45.4%, 42.4%, 37.8%, 35.1%, 21.3%, and 15.2%, respectively, while age had a negative contribution of -19.3%. For PFT≥1, economic status, age, and father education accounted for 76%, 25.4%, and 20.3% of the measured inequality, respectively. Pro-rich economic inequalities were observed in children's primary and permanent teeth caries. Thus, government interventions to reduce these inequalities should aim to expand the coverage of basic and supplementary health insurance in line with increasing the coverage of dental health costs in these plans, training and providing access to required dental health services for low-socioeconomic children, including the poor, rural, and those who have low-educated parents and a housekeeper mother, especially at younger ages.

Project description:ObjectivesLimited information is known about preventive dental visits (PDVs) before seven years of age among children in China. This study aimed to examine the early PDV rate, identify the impact of PDV on dental caries and untreated dental caries, and explore the factors related to PDV among Chinese sampled children under seven years old.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in five selected primary health care facilities in Chengdu, China, from May to August 2021. Parent-child dyads during regular systematic medical management were recruited to participate. Children's dental caries were identified through dental examinations and documented as decayed, missing and filled teeth index (dmft) by trained primary care physicians. Dental-related information was collected through a questionnaire. Zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression was used to test the effect of early PDV on the dmft value, and logistic regression was used to analyse impact factors on the early PDV.ResultsA total of 2028 out of 2377 parent-child dyads were qualified for analysis. Half of the children (50.4%) were male, with a mean age of 4.8 years. Among all the children, 12.1% had their first dental visit for preventive purposes, 34.4% had their first dental visit for symptomatic purposes, and more than half had never visited a dentist. The results showed that a lower dmft value (adjusted OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.48-0.84), a higher rate of caries-free (aOR: 6.5, 95% CI: 3.93-10.58), and a lower rate of untreated dental caries (aOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.21-0.76) were associated with early PDV utilization. Children who had a higher rate of PDV were positively associated with living in a family with better parental behaviours (aOR: 2.30, 95% CI: 1.71-3.08), better parental oral health perception (aOR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.06-1.32), fathers who had no untreated caries (aOR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.47-0.97), families with higher socioeconomic status (aOR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04-1.16), and dental health advice received from well-child care physicians (aOR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.08-2.00).ConclusionsEarly PDV was associated with a lower rate of dental caries prevalence and untreated dental caries among sampled children younger than seven in Western China. Underutilization and social inequities existed in PDV utilization. Public health strategies should be developed to increase preventive dental visits and eliminate social disparities that prevent dental care utilization.

Project description:ImportanceEchocardiographic screening allows for early detection of subclinical stages of rheumatic heart disease among children in endemic regions.ObjectiveTo investigate the effectiveness of systematic echocardiographic screening in combination with secondary antibiotic prophylaxis on the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease.Design, setting, and participantsThis cluster randomized clinical trial included students 9 to 16 years of age attending public and private schools in urban and rural areas of the Sunsari district in Nepal that had been randomly selected on November 17, 2012. Echocardiographic follow-up was performed between January 7, 2016, and January 3, 2019.InterventionsIn the experimental group, children underwent systematic echocardiographic screening followed by secondary antibiotic prophylaxis in case they had echocardiographic evidence of latent rheumatic heart disease. In the control group, children underwent no echocardiographic screening.Main outcomes and measuresPrevalence of the composite of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease according to the World Heart Federation criteria in experimental and control schools as assessed 4 years after intervention.ResultsA total of 35 schools were randomized to the experimental group (n = 19) or the control group (n = 16). After a median of 4.3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 4.0-4.5 years), 17 of 19 schools in the experimental group (2648 children; median age at follow-up, 12.1 years; IQR, 10.3-12.5 years; 1308 [49.4%] male) and 15 of 16 schools in the control group (1325 children; median age at follow-up, 10.6 years; IQR, 10.0-12.5 years; 682 [51.5%] male) underwent echocardiographic follow-up. The prevalence of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease was 10.8 per 1000 children (95% CI, 4.7-24.7) in the control group and 3.8 per 1000 children (95% CI, 1.5-9.8) in the experimental group (odds ratio, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.11-1.07; P = .06). The prevalence in the experimental group at baseline had been 12.9 per 1000 children (95% CI, 9.2-18.1). In the experimental group, the odds ratio of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease at follow-up vs baseline was 0.29 (95% CI, 0.13-0.65; P = .008).Conclusions and relevanceSchool-based echocardiographic screening in combination with secondary antibiotic prophylaxis in children with evidence of latent rheumatic heart disease may be an effective strategy to reduce the prevalence of definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease in endemic regions.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01550068.

Project description:The tongue microbiota of elderly adults is composed of two cohabiting commensal groups and their ratios are related to the number of teeth with dental caries experience. In this study, the variation in the tongue microbiota of primary school children and its relationship with the dental caries experience were investigated. We examined the tongue microbiota of 138 children aged 6 to 7 years and 11 to 12 years (61 and 77 children, respectively) who underwent annual dental examinations. The bacterial composition was determined by sequencing the V1-V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Cooccurrence network analysis indicated two groups of cohabiting predominant commensals in the tongue microbiota of children. The microbiota in children without a history of dental caries showed significantly higher relative abundances of one of the cohabiting groups, primarily composed of Neisseria subflava, Porphyromonas pasteri, and Fusobacterium periodonticum, compared to that in children with a history of dental caries, which is consistent with that of elderly adults with fewer teeth with dental caries experience. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) further identified Streptococcus oralis subsp. dentisani, belonging to the aforementioned commensal group, as a discriminant species in children without dental caries experience aged 6 to 7 years and 11 to 12 years. Our results describe the tongue microbiota composition of primary school children without history of dental caries and support the possibility that dental caries experience is accompanied by a shift in the tongue microbiota.IMPORTANCE Dental caries is now considered to be caused by acids produced by the overall dental plaque microbiota rather than by specific pathogens. This study focused on the relationship between dental caries experience and the variations in tongue microbiota, which is adjacent but separate from the dental plaque microbiota. Our results demonstrated that the tongue microbiota of primary school children with no history of dental caries experience was composed of predominant commensals with different relative abundances compared to those present in children with dental caries experience, suggesting that dental caries experience is accompanied by a shift in the tongue microbiota. The maintenance of a healthy tongue microbiota may indirectly contribute to the prevention of dental caries.

Dataset Information

Effectiveness of school dental screening on dental visits and untreated caries among primary schoolchildren: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Publications

Effectiveness of school dental screening on dental visits and untreated caries among primary schoolchildren: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets