Oral Health, Social and Emotional Well-Being, and Economic Costs: Protocol for the Second Australian National Child Oral Health Survey.

Background: Given the significant investment of governments and families into the provision of child dental care services in Australia, continued population oral health surveillance through national oral health surveys is imperative.

Objective: The aims of this study are to conduct a second National Child Oral Health Survey (NCOHS-2) to (1) describe the prevalence, extent, and impact of oral diseases in contemporary Australian children; (2) evaluate changes in the prevalence and extent of oral diseases in the Australian child population and socioeconomic subgroups since the first National Child Oral Health Study (NCOHS-1) in 2012-2013; and (3) use economic modeling to evaluate the burden of child oral disease from the NCOHS-1 and NCOHS-2 and to estimate the cost-effectiveness of targeted programs for high-risk child groups.

Methods: The NCOHS-2 will closely mimic the NCOHS-1 in being a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of Australian children aged 5-14 years.

Comparison of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS-4D) and Child Health Utility Index (CHU-9D) in children with oral diseases.

Objective: Accurate assessment of child oral health is important for guiding economic evaluations and informing healthcare decision-making. Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS-4D) is a preference-based instrument that measures the oral health-related quality of life of young children. The aim of this study was to compare the utility scores of ECOHIS-4D and Child Health Utility Index (CHU-9D), against an oral health indicator to evaluate which utility score corresponds better with the oral health indicator.

Motivational Interviewing and Childhood Caries: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Background: This study tested the occurrence of early childhood caries (ECC) and changes in potential mediators of ECC after an early childhood oral health promotion intervention.

Methods: Consenting parent/child dyads in Western Australia were randomised into test [motivational interviewing (MI) + anticipatory guidance (AG)] or control (lift the lip assessments by child health nurses). A questionnaire at baseline and follow-ups (at 18, 36 and 60 months) evaluated the parental factors and the children clinically examined.

Developing an Australian utility value set for the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale-4D (ECOHIS-4D) using a discrete choice experiment.

Purpose: Preference-based quality of life measures (PBMs) are used to generate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in economic evaluations. A PBM consists of (1) a health state classification system and (2) a utility value set that allows the instrument responses to be converted to QALYs. A new, oral health-specific classification system, the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale-4D (ECOHIS-4D) has recently been developed.

Global Oral Health Policies and Guidelines: Using Silver Diamine Fluoride for Caries Control.

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) was developed in Japan in the 1960s. It is a clear solution containing silver and fluoride ions. Because of its anti-bacterial and remineralizing effect, silver diamine fluoride has been used in managing dental caries for decades worldwide.

Minimally Invasive Dentistry: Parent/Carer Perspectives on Atraumatic Restorative Treatments and Dental General Anaesthesia to the Management of Early Childhood Caries.

Parents of children treated under dental general anaesthesia (DGA) have reported feelings of concern and anxiety. This study elicited the views of parents/carers (P/C) of children with early childhood caries (ECC) who participated in a randomised trial (core study) which tested the effectiveness of care under DGA or care using alternative minimally invasive Atraumatic Restorative Treatment and the Hall Technique approaches (ART/HT). P/C of children treated using the ART/HT (test) approach or care under a DGA (control) were interviewed.

Atraumatic restorative treatments and oral health-related quality of life and dental anxiety in Australian Aboriginal children: A cluster-randomized trial.

Objectives: The management of early childhood caries is challenging and the impacts of its treatment on child oral health-related quality of life (COHRQoL) and dental anxiety among Australian Aboriginal children is relatively unknown. The aim of the study was to compare the impact on COHRQoL and dental anxiety after approximately 12 months among Aboriginal children treated for early childhood caries (ECC) using the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment and the Hall Technique (ART/HT: test) or standard care (control).

Methods: Consenting Aboriginal communities in the North-West of Western Australia were randomized into early (test) or delayed (control) intervention for the management of ECC.

Parent perceptions of minimally invasive dental treatment of Australian Aboriginal pre-school children in rural and remote communities.

Introduction: Aboriginal* children in rural and remote communities in Australia have a higher burden of dental decay and poorer access to dental services than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. In the Kimberley region of Western Australia (WA), Aboriginal children experience six times the rate of untreated dental decay of non-Aboriginal children. Access to dental care is challenged by the availability and appropriate delivery of services in remote locations.

Developing an early childhood oral health impact-specific health-state classification system for a new preference-based instrument, the ECOHIS-4D.

Objectives: Most of the paediatric quality-of-life instruments in oral health research are not preference-based measures, thus cannot be used in economic evaluations. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is one such instrument which assesses oral health impact on children's quality of life among three- to five-year-olds. With increasing demands for more resource allocation in oral health care, there is a need for an outcome metric which can be used as the outcome in economic evaluations.

Oral health of aboriginal people with kidney disease living in Central Australia.

Background: Associations between kidney disease and periodontal disease are not well documented among Aboriginal people of Australia. The purpose of this investigation was to report and compare demographic, oral health, anthropometric and systemic health status of Aboriginal Australians with kidney disease and to compare against relevant Aboriginal Australians and Australian population estimates. This provides much needed evidence to inform dental health service provision policies for Aboriginal Australians with kidney disease.

Lessons learned from a periodontal intervention to reduce progression of chronic kidney disease among Aboriginal Australians.

Objective: Periodontal disease is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with both conditions being highly prevalent among Australia's Aboriginal population. This paper reflects on the lessons learned following implementation of a periodontal intervention in the Central Australian region of the Northern Territory among Aboriginal adults with CKD.

Results: Between Oct 2016 and May 2019, research staff recruited 102 eligible participants.

Evaluation of the ECOHIS and the CARIES-QC among an Australian "Aboriginal" population.

Purpose: An evaluation of the reliability and validity of two child oral health-related quality of life (COHRQoL) measures among Australian Aboriginal children who participated in a randomised trial was undertaken.

Methods: Study participants completed the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) and the Caries Impacts and Experiences Questionnaire for Children (CARIES-QC). The questionnaires were completed a second time to test the scales' test-retest reliability.

Atraumatic restorative treatments improve child oral health-related quality of life: A noninferiority randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Management of dental caries under dental general anaesthesia (DGA) in young children improves their quality of life. A randomized controlled trial was undertaken to test the changes in oral health-related quality of life among children treated under a DGA or managed using the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment and Hall crown approaches (ARTs).

Methods: Children scheduled for a DGA for the management of dental caries after assessment at the Oral Health Centre of Western Australia were invited to participate.

Minimally Invasive Dentistry Based on Atraumatic Restorative Treatment to Manage Early Childhood Caries in Rural and Remote Aboriginal Communities: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The caries experience of Aboriginal children in Western Australia (WA) and elsewhere in Australia is more than twice that of non-Aboriginal children. Early childhood caries (caries among children <6 years) has a significant impact on the quality of life of children and their caregivers, and its management is demanding and commonly undertaken under general anesthesia. A randomized controlled trial using a minimally invasive dentistry approach based on Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) in metropolitan Perth, WA, has demonstrated a significant reduction in the rate of referral to a dental specialist for dental care among children with early childhood caries, potentially reducing the need for treatment under general anesthesia.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the atraumatic restorative treatment-based approach to managing early childhood caries.

Objective: Paediatric dental care under general anaesthesia among preschool children in Western Australia is increasing and costly. This study assessed cost-effectiveness of the atraumatic restorative treatment-based (ART-based) approach against the standard care (SC) approach to managing early childhood caries in a primary care setting based on a 1-year pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Methods: Cost-effectiveness analysis, from the service provider perspective, was conducted.

Service Use and Perceived Need among an Aboriginal Population in Western Australia.

Unlabelled: Limited information is available about dental service use, perceived need and perceived oral health status among Aboriginal populations in Western Australia. This study collected information from a convenience sample of people attending the opening ceremony of the 2014 National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee celebrations in Perth, Western Australia.

Methods: People who visited the Dental Health Services display stall at the event completed a questionnaire on dental service use, perceived need and self-rated oral health domains.

Service Use and Perceived Need among an Aboriginal Population in Western Australia.

Unlabelled: Limited information is available about dental service use, perceived need and perceived oral health status among Aboriginal populations in Western Australia. This study collected information from a convenience sample of people attending the opening ceremony of the 2014 National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee celebrations in Perth, Western Australia.

Methods: People who visited the Dental Health Services display stall at the event completed a questionnaire on dental service use, perceived need and self-rated oral health domains.

Restorative Outcomes of a Minimally Invasive Restorative Approach Based on Atraumatic Restorative Treatment to Manage Early Childhood Caries: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial comparing a minimally invasive approach based on atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) procedures (test) was tested against the standard-care approach (control) to treat early childhood caries (ECC) in a primary-care setting in Perth, W.A., Australia.

Periodontal disease and chronic kidney disease among Aboriginal adults; an RCT.

Background: This study will assess measures of vascular health and inflammation in Aboriginal Australian adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and determine if intensive periodontal intervention improves cardiovascular health, progression of renal disease and periodontal health over a 24-month follow-up.

Methods: The study will be a randomised controlled trial. All participants will receive the periodontal intervention benefits, with the delayed intervention group receiving periodontal treatment 24 months following baseline.

Responsiveness and sensitivity of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale to primary dental care for early childhood caries.

Objectives: This study examined the responsiveness of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) to dental treatment of early childhood caries (ECC) in a primary dental care setting.

Methods: Parents of children participating in a randomized controlled trial completed the ECOHIS at baseline and follow-up, and rated the global oral health transition of their child at follow-up ('worsened', 'no change', 'improved'). Change scores were calculated and longitudinal construct validity assessed by examining the association between change scores and global oral health transition groups.

Minimum intervention dentistry approach to managing early childhood caries: a randomized control trial.

Objectives: A pragmatic randomized control trial was undertaken to compare the minimum intervention dentistry (MID) approach, based on the atraumatic restorative treatment procedures (MID-ART: Test), against the standard care approach (Control) to treat early childhood caries in a primary care setting.

Methods: Consenting parent/child dyads were allocated to the Test or Control group using stratified block randomization. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied.

Brief oral health promotion intervention among parents of young children to reduce early childhood dental decay.

Background: Severe untreated dental decay affects a child's growth, body weight, quality of life as well as cognitive development, and the effects extend beyond the child to the family, the community and the health care system. Early health behavioural factors, including dietary practices and eating patterns, can play a major role in the initiation and development of oral diseases, particularly dental caries. The parent/caregiver, usually the mother, has a critical role in the adoption of protective health care behaviours and parental feeding practices strongly influence children's eating behaviours.

Social acceptability of dental appearance and benefits of fixed orthodontic treatment: a 17-year observational cohort study.

Objectives: This study reports on the social acceptability of dental appearance and benefits of fixed orthodontic treatment (FOT) among a cohort of 13-year-old adolescents in 1988/1989 followed through to age 30 years in 2005/2006.

Methods: Adolescents were categorized into nominal treatment need groups based on the dental aesthetic index (DAI) score at age 13 (DAI: ≤ 25 "No Need"; 26-30, "Elective"; 31-35, "Desirable"; and ≥36, "Mandatory"). At age 30, calibrated examiners again assessed the DAI of traced participants.

Quality of life and psychosocial outcomes after fixed orthodontic treatment: a 17-year observational cohort study.

Background: There is little evidence to suggest that orthodontic treatment can prevent or reduce the likelihood of dental caries or of periodontal disease or dental trauma and temporomandibular disorders, but there is a modest association between the presence of malocclusion/orthodontic treatment need and quality of life. However, little is known of the long-term outcomes of orthodontic treatment. This study reports on the longitudinal follow-up of quality of life and psychosocial outcomes of orthodontic treatment among a cohort of adults who were examined as adolescents in 1988/1989.