Effect of fluoridated water on invasive NHS dental treatments for adults: the LOTUS retrospective cohort study and economic evaluation.

Background: Most water fluoridation studies were conducted on children before the widespread introduction of fluoride toothpastes. There is a lack of evidence that can be applied to contemporary populations, particularly adolescents and adults.

Objective: To pragmatically assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of water fluoridation for preventing dental treatment and improving oral health in a contemporary population of adults, using a natural experiment design.

The CATFISH study: An evaluation of a water fluoridation program in Cumbria, UK.

Objectives: The objective was to assess the effectiveness of a Water Fluoridation program on a contemporary population of children.

Methods: The study used a longitudinal prospective cohort design. In Cumbria, England, two groups of children were recruited and observed over a period of 5-6 years.

Economic evaluation of a water fluoridation scheme in Cumbria, UK.

Objectives: The addition of fluoride to community drinking water supplies has been a long-standing public health intervention to improve dental health. However, the evidence of cost-effectiveness in the UK currently lacks a contemporary focus, being limited to a period with higher incidence of caries. A water fluoridation scheme in West Cumbria, United Kingdom, provided a unique opportunity to study the contemporary impact of water fluoridation.

How effective and cost-effective is water fluoridation for adults and adolescents? The LOTUS 10-year retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To pragmatically assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of water fluoridation for preventing dental treatment and improving oral health in a contemporary population of adults and adolescents, using a natural experiment design.

Methods: A 10-year retrospective cohort study (2010-2020) using routinely collected NHS dental treatment claims data. Participants were patients aged 12 years and over, attending NHS primary dental care services in England (17.

Dentistry responding to domestic violence and abuse: a dental, practice-based intervention and a feasibility study for a cluster randomised trial.

Objectives Assess the feasibility of using the Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS) intervention in a general dental practice setting and evaluating it using a cluster randomised trial design. IRIS is currently used in general medical practices to aid recognition and support referral into specialist support of adults presenting with injuries and other presenting factors that might have resulted from domestic violence and abuse. Also, to explore the feasibility of a cluster randomised trial design to evaluate the adapted IRIS.

Who are the 10%? Characteristics of the populations and communities receiving fluoridated water in England.

Objectives: In England, around 10% of the population receive optimally fluoridated water. This coverage has evolved through a combination of historical local decision-making and natural geography, rather than being strategically targeted at the national level. It is important to understand if the current distribution is equitable according to indicators of oral health need and to identify any population-level differences in socio-demographic characteristics that could introduce bias to studies evaluating the effectiveness of water fluoridation.

Unlocking the potential of NHS primary care dental datasets.

Introduction Maximising the use of routinely collected health data for research is a key part of the UK Government's Industrial Strategy. Rich data are generated by NHS primary care dental services, but the extent of their use in research is unknown.Aims To profile the utility of the post-2006 NHS dental datasets for research, map how they have been used to date and develop recommendations to maximise their utility.

Assessing the reliability of automatic sentiment analysis tools on rating the sentiment of reviews of NHS dental practices in England.

Background: Online reviews may act as a rich source of data to assess the quality of dental practices. Assessing the content and sentiment of reviews on a large scale is time consuming and expensive. Automation of the process of assigning sentiment to big data samples of reviews may allow for reviews to be used as Patient Reported Experience Measures for primary care dentistry.

An eReferral Management & Triage System for minor Oral surgery referrals from primary care dentists: a cost-effectiveness evaluation.

Objective: Oral surgery referrals from NHS dental practices are rising, increasing the pressures on available hospital resources. We assess if an electronic referral system with consultant or peer (general dental practitioner) led triage of patient referrals from general dental practices can effectively divert patients requiring minor oral surgery into specialist led primary care settings at a reduced cost whilst providing care of the same or enhanced quality. One year of no triage (all referrals treated in secondary care) was followed by one-year of consultant led triage, which in turn was followed by year of peer-led triage.

Factors influencing dental trainees' choice of training programme and working patterns: a mixed-methods study.

Aims To assess the training programme and future career choices of newly qualified dental trainees.Methods Mixed-methods study combining a national questionnaire with focus groups administered to dental foundation trainees (DFTs) in England. Two regions chose not to participate; therefore, the questionnaire was sent to 588 DFTs and 226 (38.

Planning the oral health workforce: Time for innovation.

The levels and types of oral health problems occurring in populations change over time, while advances in technology change the way oral health problems are addressed and the ways care is delivered. These rapid changes have major implications for the size and mix of the oral health workforce, yet the methods used to plan the oral health workforce have remained rigid and isolated from planning of oral healthcare services and healthcare expenditures. In this paper, we argue that the innovation culture that has driven major developments in content and delivery of oral health care must also be applied to planning the oral health workforce if we are to develop 'fit for purpose' healthcare systems that meet the needs of populations in the 21st century.

Workforce Planning Models for Oral Health Care: A Scoping Review.

Background: For health care services to address the health care needs of populations and respond to changes in needs over time, workforces must be planned. This requires quantitative models to estimate future workforce requirements that take account of population size, oral health needs, evidence-based approaches to addressing needs, and methods of service provision that maximize productivity. The aim of this scoping review was to assess whether and how these 4 elements contribute to existing models of oral health workforce planning.

Recruitment and Consent in an observational study.

Objective: The study sought to explore the consent rate and associated potential bias across a cohort in a large longitudinal population based study.

Research Design: Data were taken from a study designed to examine the effects of the reintroduction of community water fluoridation on children's oral health over a five-year period. Children were recruited from a fluoridated and non-fluoridated area in Cumbria, referred to as Group 1 and Group 2.

Increasing questionnaire response: evidence from a nested RCT within a longitudinal birth cohort study.

Background: High response rates are essential when questionnaires are used within research, as representativeness can affect the validity of studies and the ability to generalise the findings to a wider population. The study aimed to measure the response rate to questionnaires from a large longitudinal epidemiological study and sought to determine if any changes made throughout data collection had a positive impact on the response to questionnaires and addressed any imbalance in response rates by participants' levels of deprivation.

Methods: Data were taken from a prospective, comparative study, designed to examine the effects of the reintroduction of water fluoridation on children's oral health over a five-year period.

The impact of changing provider remuneration on clinical activity and quality of care: Evaluation of a pilot NHS contract in Northern Ireland.

Objectives: A pilot NHS dental contract was introduced in Northern Ireland between 2015 and 2016, which involved changing the method for paying general dental practitioners working in the NHS from fee-for-service (FFS) to capitation-based payments, providing an opportunity for a robust evaluation. We investigated the impact of a change in payment methods on clinical activity and the quality of care provided.

Design: A difference-in-difference (DiD) evaluation was applied to clinical activity data from pilot NHS dental practices in Northern Ireland compared to matched control NHS practices and applied to a questionnaire survey of patient-rated outcomes of health outcomes and care quality.

A systematic review of second molar distal surface caries incidence in the context of third molar absence and emergence.

Objective The aim of this systematic review was to gain a greater insight into the incidence rates of distal surface caries (DSC) on second permanent molars.Data sources A literature search using the Cochrane Library, Lilacs, Embase and Medline via Ovid retrieved English and non-English language articles from inception to June 2016. The electronic searches were supplemented with reference searching and citation tracking.

A RAND/UCLA appropriateness method study to identify the dimensions of quality in primary dental care and quality measurement indicators.

Objectives Quality measures are increasingly used for quality measurement and improvement in primary dental care. Currently there is no consensus on a core set of quality measures that may be used in primary dental care or of the dimensions of quality important in dentistry. The objective of this study was to use a RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method to help establish such a consensus.

Conceptualising a framework for improving quality in primary dental care.

This paper sets out a conceptual framework by which quality improvement in primary dental care can be approached. We argue that seeking a unified definition for quality in dentistry is a distraction to the more important end of quality improvement. An approach to quality improvement that interfaces Donabedian's domains of structure, process and outcome with various dimensions of quality gives a rational approach by which quality can be assessed and improved.

Prevalence of distal surface caries in the second molar among referrals for assessment of third molars: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

We conducted a systematic review of epidemiological studies to assess the prevalence of distal surface caries (DSC) in second molars adjacent to third molars. We searched the Cochrane Library, Lilacs, Embase, and Medline through Ovid (Wolters Kluwer) to retrieve English and non-English papers from inception to June 2016, and supplemented this with a search of the references and by tracking citations. Three reviewers contributed: one reviewed all the papers, and the other two divided the rest between them.

Protocol for a Randomised controlled trial to Evaluate the effectiveness and cost benefit of prescribing high dose FLuoride toothpaste in preventing and treating dEntal Caries in high-risk older adulTs (reflect trial).

Background: Dental caries in the expanding elderly, predominantly-dentate population is an emerging public health concern. Elderly individuals with heavily restored dentitions represent a clinical challenge and significant financial burden for healthcare systems, especially when their physical and cognitive abilities are in decline. Prescription of higher concentration fluoride toothpaste to prevent caries in older populations is expanding in the UK, significantly increasing costs for the National Health Services (NHS) but the effectiveness and cost benefit of this intervention are uncertain.

A systematic review of quality measures used in primary care dentistry.

Introduction: 'Quality' in primary care dentistry is poorly defined. There are significant international efforts focussed on developing quality measures within dentistry. The aim of this research was to identify measures used to assess quality in primary care dentistry and categorise them according to which dimensions of quality they attempt to measure.

A comparison of dental fluorosis in adult populations with and without lifetime exposure to water fluoridation.

Objectives: There is a lack of evidence on the proportion and severity of fluorosis in adult populations exposed and not exposed to fluoridated water over their lifetimes. The aim of this study was to compare the proportion and severity of fluorosis in adults with lifetime exposure to water fluoridation with a nonexposed sample. A secondary aim was to report the gradient of fluorosis severity by age.