Objectives: To determine the early dental service utilisation patterns among Australian children and investigate barriers to care.
Method: Randomly selected adults aged 18 years and older who were parents or caregivers of children under 18 years of age completed an online nationally representative cross-sectional survey which was then analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results: A total 2,048 parents of 3,660 children, including 1,179 aged between one and six years, completed the survey. Utilisation of professional dental care was low among children under six years of age, with just 118 (27.3%) at one year of age having ever received professional dental care. The most frequently reported reasons for lack of professional dental care were that the child was too young, their teeth were healthy or that the child would be scared. Cost was the fourth most frequently reported reason in young children. Only 459 (22.4%) parents knew that the first dental visit should be at one year of age or earlier.
Conclusions: Parents are unaware that children should have their first dental visit at 12 months, and therefore most children miss out on essential early health promotion.
Implications For Public Health: As many parents are unaware of the importance of early dental visits, integrating and strengthening oral health promotion screening and referral within broader early childhood health services is essential.
Background: Pneumococcal disease, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, imposes a significant global health burden, particularly affecting vulnerable groups such as the elderly and immunocompromised. The 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) is designed to protect against 23 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, there is ongoing debate about its effectiveness in reducing all-cause mortality.
Background: For health science students, publishing in scientific journals is a significant milestone that can positively impact their professional careers, providing recognition and credibility within the academic and professional community. However, despite the apparent increase in scientific production among undergraduate dental students in Latin America and the Caribbean, it remains low compared to other regions. The study aimed to determine the frequency of publication in scientific journals of the documents to obtain the professional title of dental surgeon by undergraduate dental students at a private Peruvian university over seven years.
Background: The caries severity in childhood may predict caries conditions in the future and even in adulthood in caries risk models. Nevertheless, the rate of recurrent caries after treatment of severe early childhood caries is high and correlated with behavioural factors, rather than clinical indicators. Compliance with the caries control programme has been demonstrated to prevent root caries development in head and neck cancer patients, suggesting that compliance with treatment protocols is a more important key to bringing about successful outcomes than treatment protocols themselves.
Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, P.O.BOX 114, Jazan, 45142, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Background: The association between diet and oral health is complex, yet understanding the influence of nutrition on oral health among dental professionals is limited. This study aimed to assess the knowledge levels of dental professionals in Saudi Arabia regarding the relationship between diet and oral health.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 211 dental professionals in Saudi Arabia using an 18-item questionnaire.
