Quality-Adjusted Life Year Proxies for Caries in Primary Dentition: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Introduction: Cost-utility analysis (CUA)-a method to evaluate intervention cost-effectiveness-transforms benefits of alternatives into a measure of quantity and quality of life, such as quality-adjusted life year (QALY), to enable comparison across heterogeneous programs. Measurement challenges prevent directly estimating utilities and calculating QALYs for caries in primary dentition. Proxy disease QALYs are often used as a substitute; however, there lacks quantitative evidence that these proxy diseases are comparable to caries.

COVID-19 Impact on Community-Based Participatory Randomized Controlled Trials-Lessons From the Oral Health Disparities in Children Consortium.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on nearly every sector of science and industry worldwide, including a significant disruption to clinical trials and dentistry. From the beginning of the pandemic, dental care was considered high risk for viral transmission due to frequent aerosol-generating procedures. This resulted in special challenges for dental providers, oral health care workers, patients, and oral health researchers.

Unexpected benefits of and lessons learned from shifting to virtual focus group discussions in the BEECON trial.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many human subjects research to halt in-person activities and pivot to virtual engagement, including Focus Groups (FGs). We highlight learnings from our experience of hosting virtual FGs from our BEhavioral EConomics for Oral health iNnovation (BEECON) study focusing on oral hygiene behaviors among low-income, predominantly Hispanic families, including practical tips and potential pitfalls to avoid for researchers considering virtual engagement.

Results: There can be particular benefits to holding virtual sessions among minority parents of young children-to provide flexibility, comfort, and reduced logistical barriers for participation-while still facilitating friendly conversation with minimal distractions.

Gut Microbiome Activity Contributes to Prediction of Individual Variation in Glycemic Response in Adults.

Limiting postprandial glycemic response (PPGR) is an important intervention in reducing the risk of chronic metabolic diseases and has been shown to impart significant health benefits in people with elevated levels of blood sugar. In this study, we collected gut microbiome activity data by assessing the metatranscriptome, and we measured the glycemic responses of 550 adults who consumed more than 30,000 meals, collectively, from omnivore or vegetarian/gluten-free diets. We demonstrate that gut microbiome activity, anthropometric factors, and food macronutrients modulate individual variation in glycemic response.

Family monetary incentives as a value-based care model for oral hygiene: rationale and design of the BEhavioral EConomics for Oral health iNnovation (BEECON) trial.

Background: Effective prevention-focused, value-based strategies are needed to improve oral health. Despite evidence that monetary incentives can motivate healthy behavior, well-powered studies have yet to examine incentives for improving children's oral hygiene.

Aim: Describe the rationale and design of the BEhavioral EConomics for Oral health iNnovation (BEECON) trial, which tests lottery-based monetary incentives as a consumer-oriented, value-based care model for improving children's oral hygiene.

Special education in Denmark and integration of visually handicapped children in normal classes in the public school.

Experience over the last decade in integrating severely visually handicapped pupils in normal school classes is encouraging. We have learned that a visual handicap, no matter how severe, can be compensated for through materials, educational support, cooperation between the persons involved so that the child can be taught in the local school where he belongs and live as normal a life as possible. We are also aware of how things can be improved, but this is a question of economics and to some extent emotional attitudes in the pupil's environment.