Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Learned Clinical Skills in Pediatric Medicine Residents and Nurse Practitioner Students: A Pre-Post Design.

(1) Background/Objective: California has one of the highest rates of pediatric dental caries in the nation. One way to combat this problem is through non-dental provider training programs that focus on prevention. However, there are limited data on healthcare provider training program integration and evaluation of oral health curricula focused on prevention of early childhood caries.

Application of principles learned in a prevention-focused pediatric dental residency curriculum to professional practice.

Purpose: This study examined whether pediatric dentists who participated in a pediatric dental residency program focusing on disease prevention and management training and screening for social determinants of health (SDOH) were applying these principles to their professional practice upon graduation.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, a one-time-only online survey was disseminated to 75 pediatric dentists who graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles's training program between 2012 and 2022. The 21-item survey included questions on demographics, patient population characteristics, and application of preventive dentistry and SDOH to their professional practice.

Cost-effectiveness analysis design for interventions to prevent children's oral disease.

Introduction: In 2015, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) launched the Multidisciplinary Collaborative Research Consortium to Reduce Oral Health Disparities in Children, supporting four randomized trials testing strategies to improve preventive care. A Coordinating Center provides scientific expertise, data acquisition and quality assurance services, safety monitoring, and final analysis-ready datasets. This paper describes the trials' economic analysis strategies, placing these strategies within the broader context of contemporary economic analysis methods.

Pediatric Oral Health Online Education for Rural and Migrant Head Start Programs in the United States.

Children living in rural and migrant areas in the United States disproportionately suffer from poor oral health. Additionally, there continues to be a shortage of pediatric dentists practicing in rural/migrant areas. The purpose of this formative research study was to assess whether staff, teachers and families from rural/migrant Head Start/Early Head Start (HS/EHS) programs in California were receptive to oral health online education workshops conducted by pediatric dental residents who were assisted by bilingual (English and Spanish) community oral health workers (COHWs).

A 12-year follow up of principles learned in a pediatric dentistry Master of Public Health dual degree program applied to professional practice.

Introduction: Dental public health professionals play a critical role in preventing and controlling oral diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the application of public health principles learned in a pediatric dentistry Master of Public Health (MPH) dual degree program to professional practice upon graduation.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with pediatric dentistry/MPH dual degree alumni who graduated from the program between 2012 and 2023.

A global survey of national oral health policies and its coverage for young children.

Background: There is no accessible information on countries with oral health policies. The purpose of this study was to identify World Dental Federation (FDI) member countries with oral health policies and their scope and extent of coverage of oral health care for young children.

Methods: This international survey recruited chief dental officers, oral health advisors to national ministries of health, and other key informants of the 158 FDI member countries between December 2020 and December 2021.

Visit to the Dentist for Oral Health Prevention at "Age One": A proposed policy report from the Indian perspective.

Early childhood caries is a major public health issue in India. The primary reason for poor oral health in children is a lack of awareness about the role of primary teeth and the importance of an early dental visit for infants and toddlers. The primary objectives of an early dental visit are to analyze the child's risk level, provide guidance to parents regarding proper oral hygiene measures, review dietary and eating habits, provide information regarding the infectivity of dental caries, review the risks of traumatic injuries and discuss factors which affect the development of occlusion.

Corrigendum: Editorial: Country profile of the epidemiology and clinical management of early childhood caries, volume II.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.

Child dental neglect and legal protections: a compendium of briefs from policy reviews in 26 countries and a special administrative region of China.

Background: Child neglect is a public health, human rights, and social problem, with potentially devastating and costly consequences. The aim of this study was to: (1) summarize the oral health profile of children across the globe; (2) provide a brief overview of legal instruments that can offer children protection from dental neglect; and (3) discuss the effectiveness of these legal instruments.

Methods: We summarized and highlighted the caries profile and status of implementation of legislation on child dental neglect for 26 countries representing the World Health Organization regions: five countries in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe), eight in the Americas (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Unites States of America, Uruguay), six in the Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Iran, Libya, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), four in Europe (Italy, Latvia, Serbia, United Kingdom), two in South-East Asia (India and Indonesia) and one country (China) with its special administrative region (Hong Kong) in the Western Pacific.

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.

Calibration and reliability testing of a novel asynchronous photographic plaque scoring system in young children.

Objectives: The Simplified Oral Hygiene Index for Maxillary Incisors (OHI-MIS) is a novel plaque scoring system adapted for young children. This study describes calibration training and testing used to establish the inter- and intra-rater reliability for OHI-MIS measured from clinical photographs.

Methods: Two raters from the Coordinated Oral Health Promotion Chicago (CO-OP) and one from the Behavioral EConomics for Oral health iNnovation (BEECON) randomized controlled trials (RCTs) underwent calibration with gold standard raters, followed by annual re-calibration.

Five-year follow-up of an interdisciplinary oral health education program: Clinical practice behaviors in working pediatric nurse practitioners.

Many interdisciplinary oral health education programs have been implemented for pediatric primary care providers (e.g., pediatric nurse practitioner [PNP]) to raise awareness and gain skills related to the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC).

Effectiveness of Telemedicine and Teledentistry after the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Telemedicine has become increasingly important worldwide over the last two decades. As a new field, it became known especially during the COVID-19 pandemic; this review presents fields of activity with special attention to opportunities and risks. Numerous areas of application offer the possibility for broad use in the medical and dental care landscape in diagnostics, therapy, rehabilitation, and decision advice across a spatial distance.

Addressing social determinants of oral health, structural racism and discrimination and intersectionality among immigrant and non-English speaking Hispanics in the United States.

Background: The Hispanic population is the largest (18.5%) and fastest growing non-majority ethnic group in the United States (US), about half of whom are non-US born, and bears one of the highest oral disease burdens. Most current knowledge around oral health disparities in Hispanic populations examine the individual factors of culture, acculturation, and socioeconomic status.

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.

Difficulty with Oral Health Complications in Adolescents with Developmental Disability and Obesity.

Introduction: Developmental disabilities (DDs), obesity, and dental caries are highly prevalent health conditions among adolescents. Evidence indicates that a significant proportion of adolescents with DDs are obese, and those with obesity and dental caries share common risk factors.

Objective: In this first-ever US-based cross-sectional national study, we assessed the likelihood of adolescents with DDs and obesity experiencing chronic difficulty with decayed teeth, toothaches, bleeding gums, and eating and swallowing due to a health condition among adolescents with DDs and obesity compared to adolescents with no DDs or obesity.

Oral Diseases and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Kenyan Children and Adolescents with HIV.

Introduction: Children and adolescents living with HIV (CALHIV) have a higher risk of hard and soft oral tissue diseases as compared with their healthy peers. It is important to increase awareness regarding the need to integrate oral health within medical care among pediatric HIV populations. Studies on associations of oral diseases with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in CALHIV are lacking.

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.

Improved oral health knowledge in a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner program.

Pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) are a significant workforce in primary care and are uniquely positioned to improve oral health in children through ongoing surveillance in the well-child visit. The purpose of this study was to evaluate PNP student satisfaction and knowledge gained with the integration of the Strategic Partnership for Interprofessional Collaborative Education in Pediatric Dentistry (SPICE-PD) oral health education program into the first-year primary care curriculum. A descriptive, comparative design examined dental test scores across the pre-SPICE-PD (2013-2014; n = 26) and post-SPICE-PD (2015-2020; n = 55) cohorts.

Oral Health Policies to Tackle the Burden of Early Childhood Caries: A Review of 14 Countries/Regions.

Early childhood caries (ECC) has significant public health implications but has received inadequate global attention. There is limited information regarding the success of oral health policies implemented to address the challenges of ECC. This review aimed to summarize such policies to tackle ECC from different countries/regions.

Evidence-Based Caries Management for All Ages-Practical Guidelines.

The purpose of the present paper is to provide step-by-step guidelines for dental healthcare providers to manage dental caries based upon caries risk assessment (CRA) for ages 0-6 years and 6 years through adult. The manuscript reviews and updates the CAMBRA (caries management by risk assessment) system which includes CRA and caries management recommendations that are guided by the assessed risk level. CAMBRA CRA tools (CRAs) have been evaluated in several clinical outcomes studies and clinical trials.

A Comparison of Four Caries Risk Assessment Methods.

Caries risk assessment (CRA) is essential as the basis for successful management of dental caries. Of the many published CRA tools, four well-known ones are CAMBRA, Cariogram, American Dental Association (ADA), and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) CRAs. The predictive accuracy of CAMBRA and Cariogram CRA tools have been examined in clinical outcomes studies in thousands of patients and the tools are widely used all over the world.