Systematically assessing the quality of dental electronic health record data for an investigation into oral health care disparities.

Objectives: This work describes the process by which the quality of electronic health care data for a public health study was determined. The objectives were to adapt, develop, and implement data quality assessments (DQAs) based on the National Institutes of Health Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory (NIHPTC) data quality framework within the three domains of completeness, accuracy, and consistency, for an investigation into oral health care disparities of a preventive care program.

Methods: Electronic health record data for eligible children in a dental accountable care organization of 30 offices, in Oregon, were extracted iteratively from January 1, 2014, through March 31, 2022.

Trends in postgraduate dental training in the United States.

Objective: This study examines the individual, educational, and policy factors that predict dentists pursuing postgraduate dental (PGD) training.

Methods: Individual dentist records from the 2017 American Dental Association Masterfile were linked with pre-doctoral training attributes and state-level dental policy factors. Generalized logistic models, adjusted for individual, educational, and policy factors, were used to predict: (1) attending any PGD program, and (2) primary (i.

Practice patterns of postgraduate trained dentists in the United States.

Objective: Postgraduate dental (PGD) primary care training has grown significantly. This study examines the individual, educational, community, and policy factors that predict practice patterns of PGD-trained dentists.

Study Design: Individual dentist records from the 2017 American Dental Association Masterfile, with indicators of Medicaid participation and practice in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), were linked to postdoctoral training, community/practice location, and state policy factors.

American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and Hispanic dentists' experiences of discrimination.

Objective: Little is known about the scope and role of discriminatory experiences in dentistry. The purpose of this study is to document the experiences that American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Black, and Hispanic dentists have had with discrimination.

Methods: This study reports data from a 2012 nationally representative study of dentists documenting experiences with discrimination during their dental careers or during dental school by the setting of the discrimination, the providers' education, and geographic location.

Dental Therapists in the United States: Health Equity, Advancing.

Background: Dental therapists (DTs) are primary care dental providers, used globally, and were introduced in the United States (US) in 2005. DTs have now been adopted in 13 states and several Tribal nations.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to qualitatively examine the drivers and outcomes of the US dental therapy movement through a health equity lens, including community engagement, implementation and dissemination, and access to oral health care.

Implementing care coordination in a large dental care organization in the United States by upskilling front office personnel.

Background: Care coordination is a key strategy used to improve health outcomes and efficiency, yet there are limited examples in dentistry. A large dental accountable care organization piloted care coordination by retraining existing administrative staff to coordinate the care of high-risk patients. Following the pilot's success, a formal "dental care advocate" (DCA) role was integrated system-wide.

Tracking oral health in a standardized, evidence-based, prevention-focused dental care system.

Objectives: Learning health-care systems are foundational for measuring and achieving value in oral health care. This article describes the components of a preventive dental care program and the quality of care in a large dental accountable care organization.

Methods: A retrospective study design describes and evaluates the cross-sectional measures of process of care (PoC), appropriateness of care (AoC), and outcomes of care (OoC) extracted from the electronic health record (EHR), between 2014 and 2019.

Developing and Testing Electronic Health Record-Derived Caries Indices.

Caries indices, the basis of epidemiologic caries measures, are not easily obtained in clinical settings. This study's objective was to design, test, and validate an automated program (Valid Electronic Health Record Dental Caries Indices Calculator Tool [VERDICT]) to calculate caries indices from an electronic health record (EHR). Synthetic use case scenarios and actual patient cases of primary, mixed, and permanent dentition, including decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT/dmft) and tooth surfaces (DMFS/dmfs) were entered into the EHR.

The Impact of Federal and State Policy on Oral Health Care Delivery in Long-Term Care Settings.

Residents of long-term care (LTC) facilities have a significantly higher risk of poor oral health status compared with those living independently; moreover, the provision of oral health services to LTC residents is often limited. This study identifies and classifies state-level policies and funding sources for dental services that are available to LTC residents. The research details variability in coverage levels, payment sources, workforce capacity, and care delivery configuration, finding little coherence between policy and the needs of patients or providers.

Underrepresented Minority Dentists: Quantifying Their Numbers And Characterizing The Communities They Serve.

The underrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanics or Latinos, and American Indians or Alaska Natives among dentists raises concerns about the diversity of the dental workforce, disparities in access to dental care and in oral health status, and social justice. We quantified the shortage of underrepresented minority dentists and examined these dentists' practice patterns in relation to the characteristics of the communities they serve. The underrepresented minority dentist workforce is disproportionately smaller than, and unevenly distributed in relation to, minority populations in the United States.

A fully automated microfluidic femtosecond laser axotomy platform for nerve regeneration studies in C. elegans.

Femtosecond laser nanosurgery has been widely accepted as an axonal injury model, enabling nerve regeneration studies in the small model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans. To overcome the time limitations of manual worm handling techniques, automation and new immobilization technologies must be adopted to improve throughput in these studies. While new microfluidic immobilization techniques have been developed that promise to reduce the time required for axotomies, there is a need for automated procedures to minimize the required amount of human intervention and accelerate the axotomy processes crucial for high-throughput.

The role of TGF-β and myofibroblasts in the arteritis of Kawasaki disease.

Inflammation of medium-sized, muscular arteries and coronary artery aneurysms are hallmarks of Kawasaki disease (KD), an acute, self-limited vasculitis of children. We previously reported that genetic variation in transforming growth factor (TGF)-β pathway genes influences both susceptibility to KD and coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) formation. TGF-β signaling has been implicated in the generation of myofibroblasts that influence collagen lattice contraction, antigen presentation, and recruitment of inflammatory cells as well as the generation of regulatory T-cells (Tregs).

Kawasaki disease in monozygotic twins.

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that susceptibility to Kawasaki disease (KD) is influenced by host genetics. Subclinical coronary artery vasculitis may be present in monozygotic twins who are discordant for clinical signs of KD. Health care providers should consider laboratory testing and echocardiography in both monozygotic twins when only one twin presents with clinical KD.