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Updated: Aug 29, 2026
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
[Twelve years of the child oral care program (PADI) in Navarra (1991-2002). Utilisation and health indicators]
F J Cortés1, J M Ramón, E Cuenca
1Fundación Miguel Servet, Pamplona, 31008, Spain. jcortes@infomed.es
Insights
The Infant Oral Care Program (PADI) in Navarra increased dental service utilization and improved oral health in children and adolescents. This public health initiative demonstrated significant positive impacts on dental care access and outcomes between 1991 and 2002.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Health Services Research
Background:
- The Infant Oral Care Program (PADI) was established in Navarra in 1991 to serve children aged 6-15.
- The program utilized a mixed public and private-arranged provision model with capitation-based payments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of the PADI on dental service utilization.
- To evaluate the evolution of dental health among Navarra schoolchildren from 1991 to 2002.
Main Methods:
- Data on provider networks and PADI utilization were obtained from the Navarra Health Service.
- Dental health data from 1987, 1997, and 2002 surveys were analyzed.
- Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v10.
Main Results:
- The number of PADI dentists grew from 28 to 161, and participation rates increased from 37.4% to 67.2%.
- A significant positive correlation was found between network growth/geographical extension and utilization rates.
- The percentage of 14-year-olds visiting a dentist annually rose from 55.1% to 88.2%, with caries prevalence declining and treatment rates improving.
Conclusions:
- The implementation of PADI appears to have enhanced dental service utilization.
- The program contributed to improved oral health outcomes for children and adolescents in Navarra.
Background:
In 1991, with an incremental character, the Infant Oral Care Program (PADI) was set up in Navarra, which covers the population of 6 to 15 years of age, and which has a mixed provision, public and private-arranged, the latter with a payment system by capitation. The aim of this article is to analyse the possible impact of the program on the use of services and to analyse the evolution of the dental health of Navarra schoolchildren in the 1991-2002 period.
Materials And Methods:
Data was collected on the network of providers and the utilisation of the PADI made available by the Directorate of Primary Care of the Navarra Health Service - Osasunbidea, and data was analysed from the surveys of dental health for 1987, 1997 and 2002, whose methodology has been published. The data was exploited statistically with the SPSS program for Windows, v10.
Results:
The number of dentists-providers of the program increased from 28 in 1991 to 161 in 2002; in the same period the indexes of participation rose from 37.4 to 67.2%. There is a positive, statistically significant correlation between the growth of the network (r: 0.941) and its geographical extension (r: 0.933), and the index of utilisation. The percentage of schoolchildren aged 14 years who state that they have been to the dentists in the last year rises from 55.1% in 1987 to 88.2% in 2002. More than 70% of the schoolchildren between 6 and 12 years of age state that they have been to a PADI dentist. The prevalence of caries continues to fall in all age groups and becomes stabilised at 14 years. Between 44 and 79.2% of the caries are treated. The schoolchildren who regularly visit the PADI show more preventive and restorative treatment (sealed) than those who do not.
Conclusion:
The setting up of the PADI seems to have brought an increase in the utilisation of the dental services, together with an improvement in the dental health of the infant and adolescent population of Navarra.
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