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Published on: December 31, 2017
Comprehensive, School-Based Preventive Dentistry: Program Details and Students' Unmet Dental Needs
Muath A Aldosari1, Omair M Bukhari2, Ryan Richard Ruff3
1Assistant Professor, (muath_aldosari@hsdm.harvard.edu), Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, 3094 King Saud University, Riyadh 12372-7224, Saudi Arabia; Lecturer, Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 188 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115., USA.
Background:
In this paper, we describe the design, program details, and baseline demographics and oral health of participants in ForsythKids, a regional, comprehensive, school-based mobile caries prevention program.
Methods:
We solicited all Massachusetts elementary schools with greater than 50% of students receiving free or reduced-price meals. Six schools initially elected to participate, ultimately followed by over 50 schools. Interventions were based on systematic reviews and randomized controlled caries prevention trials. Participating students received semiannual dental examinations, followed by comprehensive preventive care. Summary statistics regarding oral health indicators were derived from individual tooth- and surface-level data.
Results:
Over a 6-year period, data were collected on 6927 children. The number of students per school ranged from 58 to 681. The overall participation rate was 15%, ranging from 10% to 29%. Overall, 57% of the children were younger than 8 years at baseline. Approximately, 54% of children experienced dental decay on any tooth at baseline; 32% had untreated decay on any tooth, 29% had untreated decay on primary teeth, and 10% untreated decay on permanent teeth.
Conclusions:
Untreated dental decay was double the national average, even in schools within several blocks of community dental clinics. These data demonstrate the need for caries prevention beyond the traditional dental practice.
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