Supervised Toothbrushing Programmes: Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation.

Objectives: Supervised toothbrushing programmes (STPs), whereby children brush their teeth at nursery or school with a fluoride toothpaste under staff supervision, are a clinically and cost-effective intervention to reduce dental caries. However, uptake is varied, and the reasons unknown. The aim was to use an implementation science approach to explore the perspectives of key stakeholders on the barriers and facilitators at each level of implementation of STPs.

Supervised toothbrushing programmes in England: a national survey of current provision and factors influencing their implementation.

Introduction Supervised toothbrushing programmes (STPs) in nurseries and schools are effective at reducing inequalities in caries when targeted to areas of dental disease. Recent changes to government education and health policy have increased interest in STPs in England. This study aimed to establish the current level of provision of STPs in England, describe changes over time, understand associations with predictor variables, and summarise key barriers and facilitators to their implementation.

Analysis of public records of lobbying practices of the ultra-processed sugary food and drink industries in Chile: a qualitative study.

Background: Given the role of commercial determinants on sugar consumption and health, this study aimed to describe lobbying practices of the ultra-processed sugary food and drinks industries in Chile between 2014 and 2022.

Methods: Official meetings between ultra-processed sugary food and drinks industries and related commercial actors and Chilean government officials were obtained from the Chilean Lobby Registry. Relevant commercial names were initially identified based on their market share and expanded iteratively based on information from relevant meetings.

'It's like being in a tunnel': Understanding the patient journey from tooth loss to life with removable dentures.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to conceptualise the key stages of the patient journey in the provision of a new denture and examine the factors leading to successful patient-related outcomes.

Methods: Two partially dentate patient samples were included: (i) Denture wearers - patients who had a denture fitted within the previous five years and (ii) New dentures - patients receiving treatment for a new or replacement denture. The methods involved direct targeted participant observations of the denture fitting process, debriefing interviews and a follow-up focus group exploring the patient journey.

Using Standardised International Oral Health-Related Datasets in 6 Countries.

Introduction: Oral diseases affect a significant proportion of the world's population, yet international comparisons involving oral health outcomes have often been limited due to differences in the way country-level primary data are collected. In response to this, the World Dental Federation (FDI) Oral Health Observatory project was launched with the goal of collecting and producing standardised international data on oral health across countries. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to examine associations between self-reported general health and a range of factors (sociodemographics, oral health-related behaviours, oral impacts, clinical variables) using these standardised international datasets.

Exploring experiences of living with removable dentures-A scoping review of qualitative literature.

Objective: Examine the literature on the experiences of living with removable dentures (complete or partial) to identify any gaps and provide a map for future research.

Background: Increasing proportions of society are living partially dentate with some form of restoration, including removable dentures. Previous studies have reported on the location, materials and usage of these prostheses, along with effects on oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Development and psychometric validation of the gum health experience questionnaire.

Aim: To develop and validate a new health-related quality of life measure to capture a wide range of gum-related impacts.

Materials And Methods: The measure was developed using a multi-stage approach and a theoretical model. Development involved semi-structured interviews, pilot testing, cross-sectional analysis among a general population (n = 152) to assess psychometric properties and test-retest reliability among a subsample (n = 27).

Standardised Practice-Based Oral Health Data Collection: A Pilot Study in Different Countries.

Background: The Oral Health Observatory (OHO), launched in 2014 by FDI World Dental Federation, aims to provide a coordinated approach to international oral health data collection. A feasibility project involving 12 countries tested the implementation of the methodology and data collection tools and assessed data quality from 6 countries.

Methods: National dental associations (NDAs) recruited dentists following a standardised sampling method.

Gum health and quality of life-subjective experiences from across the gum health-disease continuum in adults.

Background: There has been a lack of qualitative work investigating the effects of the wide range of gum-related symptoms, and the perceived everyday impacts associated with these including on quality of life. While periodontal disease has been shown to have significant effects on quality of life, fewer studies have researched the perceived impacts of gingivitis and symptoms from across the entire gum health-disease continuum, despite evidence that these can also negatively affect quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate perceived everyday impacts and explore the subjective experiences of adults with a variety of symptoms from across the self-reported gum health-disease continuum, and how these may affect quality of life.

Neighbourhoods and oral health: Agent-based modelling of tooth decay.

This research used proof of concept agent-based models to test various theoretical mechanisms by which neighbourhoods may influence tooth decay in adults. Theoretical pathways were constructed using existing literature and tested in two study areas in Sheffield, UK. The models found a pathway between shops and sugar consumption had the most influence on adult tooth decay scores, revealing that similar mechanisms influence this outcome in different populations.

Introducing CASCADEPOP: an open-source sociodemographic simulation platform for us health policy appraisal.

Largescale individual-level and agent-based models are gaining importance in health policy appraisal and evaluation. Such models require the accurate depiction of the jurisdiction's population over extended time periods to enable modeling of the development of non-communicable diseases under consideration of historical, sociodemographic developments. We developed CASCADEPOP to provide a readily available sociodemographic micro-synthesis and microsimulation platform for US populations.

National patterns in paediatric hospital admissions for dental extractions in England.

Objectives: Paediatric hospital admissions for dental extractions remain a cause for concern, despite decreasing levels of dental diseases in some areas of the country. While local investigations have taken place, little is known about national patterns, and how the relationship between the number of hospital admissions and key independent variables differs across England. The aim of this study was to examine spatial differences in the number of paediatric hospital admissions for extractions in relation to four key independent variables: dental caries, deprivation, units of dental activity and child access to dentists.

A rapid review of variation in the use of dental general anaesthetics in children.

Introduction The use of dental general anaesthetics (DGAs) remains a cause for concern due to additional strains placed on health services. There are numerous factors influencing the prevalence and use of DGAs, and understanding these is an important first step in addressing the issue.Aim Conduct a rapid review of current peer-reviewed and grey literature on the variation in the use of DGAs in children.

Rasch model of the child perceptions questionnaire in multi-country data.

Objective: To be fit-for-purpose, oral health-related quality of life instruments must possess a range of psychometric properties which had not been fully examined in the 16-item Short Form Child Perceptions Questionnaire for children aged 11 to 14 years (CPQ ISF-16). We used advanced statistical approaches to determine the CPQ's measurement accuracy, precision, invariance and dimensionality and analyzed whether age range could be extended from 8 to 15 years.

Methods: Fit to the Rasch model was examined in 6648 8-to-15-year-olds from Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil and Mexico.

Systems science and oral health: Implications for Dental Public Health?

Systems science methods offer an alternative way to approach problems within Dental Public Health by encouraging the consideration of the wider systems and structures in which oral health problems exist. Through such an approach, and consideration of interacting systems over multiple hierarchical levels, it may be possible to better understand the complexity associated with oral health related outcomes, and to improve theoretical understanding of these relationships. Simulation methods associated with systems science can also be used to help model and capture these real-world problems, and to help test the interactions associated with different elements of a system.

Application of geographic information systems and simulation modelling to dental public health: Where next?

Public health research in dentistry has used geographic information systems since the 1960s. Since then, the methods used in the field have matured, moving beyond simple spatial associations to the use of complex spatial statistics and, on occasions, simulation modelling. Many analyses are often descriptive in nature; however, and the use of more advanced spatial simulation methods within dental public health remains rare, despite the potential they offer the field.

Structural Determinants and Children's Oral Health: A Cross-National Study.

Much research on children's oral health has focused on proximal determinants at the expense of distal (upstream) factors. Yet, such upstream factors-the so-called structural determinants of health-play a crucial role. Children's lives, and in turn their health, are shaped by politics, economic forces, and social and public policies.

Who attends a Children's Hospital Emergency Department for dental reasons? A two-step cluster analysis approach.

Objectives: Emergency departments (EDs) have been identified as key providers of dental care although few studies have examined patterns of attendance or clusters of characteristics. The aim was to identify the reasons for visits to an ED, whether these remained stable over time, and characterize clusters of patients by socio-demographic and attendance variables.

Methods: Pseudonymized data were obtained for children who attended the ED in 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2012-2013.

What are the most accurate predictors of caries in children aged 5 years in the UK?

Objective: To find the most accurate indicators of the distribution of dental caries in 5-year-olds in the city of Sheffield, UK, using a conceptual framework based on the social determinants of health.

Method: A list of structural and intermediary indicators was compiled based on the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health's (CSDH) conceptual framework. To quantify these indicators, existing data on dental caries were obtained from the NHS Dental Epidemiology Programme, while data on social position, education, employment, income, material circumstances, social cohesion, psychosocial factors and individual behaviours were obtained from the Public Health Intelligence Team at Sheffield City Council.