'Fit for school' - a school-based water, sanitation and hygiene programme to improve child health: Results from a longitudinal study in Cambodia, Indonesia and Lao PDR.

Background: The Fit for School (FIT) programme integrates school health and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene interventions, which are implemented by the Ministries of Education in four Southeast Asian countries. This paper describes the findings of a Health Outcome Study, which aimed to assess the two-year effect of the FIT programme on the parasitological, weight, and oral health status of children attending schools implementing the programme in Cambodia, Indonesia and Lao PDR.

Methods: The study was a non-randomized clustered controlled trial with a follow-up period of two years.

Associations between oral health-related impacts and rate of weight gain after extraction of pulpally involved teeth in underweight preschool Filipino children.

Background: Severe dental caries in young children is associated with underweight and failure to thrive. One possible mechanism for severe caries affecting growth is that the resulting pain and discomfort influences sleeping and eating, and that affects growth and weight. The objective of this study was to assess whether rate of weight gain after extraction of severely decayed teeth in underweight preschool Filipino children was related to reductions in oral health-related impacts and dental pain from severe dental caries affecting eating and sleeping.

Relationship between Untreated Dental Caries and Weight and Height of 6- to 12-Year-Old Primary School Children in Bangladesh.

Background. Children in low-income developing countries are likely to suffer from undergrowth. Dental caries is another common problem in these countries.

The effects of extraction of pulpally involved primary teeth on weight, height and BMI in underweight Filipino children. A cluster randomized clinical trial.

Background: Severe dental caries and the treatment thereof are reported to affect growth and well-being of young children. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of extraction of severely decayed pulpally involved primary teeth on weight and height in underweight preschool Filipino children.

Methods: Underweight preschool Filipino children with severe dental decay had their pulpally involved primary teeth extracted during a stepped wedge cluster randomized clinical trial.

Childhood stunting and caries increment in permanent teeth: a three and a half year longitudinal study in Peru.

Background: Malnutrition has been consistently associated with caries in primary teeth, although an effect on permanent teeth has not been established because of the few longitudinal studies.

Aim: To explore the association between stunting and caries increment in permanent teeth over 3.5 years.

Sugar consumption and preference among Mexican, Chinese, and Nigerian immigrants to Texas.

This pilot study investigated the relationship between sugar consumption/ preference and the length of residence in the U.S. among certain immigrant groups.

Untreated severe dental decay: a neglected determinant of low Body Mass Index in 12-year-old Filipino children.

Background: Dental decay is the most common childhood disease worldwide and most of the decay remains untreated. In the Philippines caries levels are among the highest in the South East Asian region. Elementary school children suffer from high prevalence of stunting and underweight.

Political priority of global oral health: an analysis of reasons for international neglect.

Global Oral Health suffers from a lack of political attention, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This paper analyses the reasons for this political neglect through the lens of four areas of political power: the power of the ideas, the power of the issue, the power of the actors, and the power of the political context (using a modified Political Power Framework by Shiffman and Smith. Lancet370 [2007] 1370).

Dental caries in adolescents from public schools in Maputo, Mozambique.

Aim: To assess dental caries prevalence in adolescents at urban and sub-urban areas of Maputo-City, Mozambique and to identify its relationship with dental fluorosis, dental plaque, nutritional status, frequency of sugar consumption and the concentration of fluoride in public water supply.

Methods: Subjects (n=601) were randomly selected from five urban schools and five sub-urban schools. Clinical examinations were performed under standardised conditions by a trained examiner using DMFT index, SiC index, fluorosis index, PHP, BMI, a sugar consumption questionnaire and water supply analysis.

Using an oral health-related quality of life measure in three cultural settings.

Aim: To assess the application of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) index for use in three different language and cultural settings;

Objectives: To develop a Spanish and Afrikaans version of the OIDP for use in the USA and South Africa and to assess its reliability and validity in three counties: UK, USA and South Africa.

Design: Co-ordinated pilot studies using the OIDP questionnaire and clinical examination using WHO criteria in the three countries using cross-sectional convenience samples of children.

Settings: Two populations in each country: relatively well-off and more socially disadvantaged in three age groups 40 years+, 15-16 and 11-12 year-olds.

Is income inequality related to childhood dental caries in rich countries?

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the correlates of income and income inequality with dental caries in a sample of all countries, as well as in rich countries alone.

Methods: In this ecological study, the authors analyzed national data on income, income inequality and dental caries from 48 countries. Of them, 22 were rich countries (according to World Bank criteria).

Poverty, social exclusion and dental caries of 12-year-old children: a cross-sectional study in Lima, Peru.

Background: Socioeconomic differences in oral health have been reported in many countries. Poverty and social exclusion are two commonly used indicators of socioeconomic position in Latin America. The aim of this study was to explore the associations of poverty and social exclusion with dental caries experience in 12-year-old children.

Increasing prevalence of emergency department visits for pediatric dental care, 1997-2001.

Background: Hospital emergency department (ED) visits for non-urgent care have been increasing since the late 1950s. This study investigated the prevalence and characteristics of pediatric ED visits for dental problems during a five-year period.

Methods: This retrospective study included newborns through 17-year-olds with dental complaints identified from the electronic register of the ED of Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, between January 1997 and December 2001.

Teledentistry and its use in dental education.

Background: Teledentistry is a relatively new field that combines telecommunication technology and dental care. Most dentists and dental educators are unaware that teledentistry can be used not only for increased access to dental care, but also for advanced dental education.

Type Of Studies Reviewed: The authors describe teledentistry as it is applied worldwide, as well as its uses in education.

Dental practice implications of prion diseases.

This review article discusses dental practice implications of prion diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The current universal precautions used for infection control in dentistry do not inactivate infectious prions. There is a theoretical, yet real risk of prion disease transmission through dental treatment, although the magnitude of that risk has not yet been determined.

5.2 Ethics, equity and global responsibilities in oral health and disease.

The charge of this Section is ethics and global responsibilities in oral health and disease. Oral health is determined by the same factors as those for general health. To a limited extent, the level of oral health care and dental education.