The feasibility of data collection in dental practices, using codes for the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), to allow European general dental practitioners to monitor dental caries at local, national, and international levels.

AIM: To determine whether or not European general dental practitioners can carry out comprehensive dental caries assessments of the teeth of selected quotas of their patients during routine dental check-ups, as an alternative or complement to the work of specialised, salaried, dental epidemiologists. METHODS: Dentists from several European countries were invited by local coordinators to be trained to carry out dental disease assessments. For caries, they used the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), as part of a wider oral health indicators project with a European perspective. They attended training events and recruited and examined patients in their own practices before completing questionnaires, which they returned to a central data-processing facility. RESULTS: Ninety-six dentists returned questionnaires giving their opinions of the data-collection system after performing ICDAS assessments on 1216 patients. Mean times for assessments varied between countries from 7.8 to 14.06 minutes and were dependent on the age of the patient and the number and general condition of the teeth present. Given a choice of six difficulty/ease options for both understanding and applying the system, 89% of the dental examiners chose one of the two categories indicating the least difficulty for understanding and 73% chose one of these two categories for applying. CONCLUSION: Volunteer general dental practitioners (GDPs) from six European countries were able successfully to perform data collection for survey work in addition to their routine practice. If larger numbers of GDPs across Europe are prepared to undertake this type of work for selected quota samples, it should be possible to collect data to monitor caries levels among patients who attend dental practices at local, national, and international levels, provided that the time taken is considered and remunerated appropriately.

Caries prevalence 1987-1998 in 12-year-olds in France.

OBJECTIVE: To describe caries morbidity in 12-year-old French schoolchildren 1987-1998. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three cross-sectional surveys from the WHO Global Oral Data Bank that were conducted at national level in France in 1987, 1993, 1998. The surveys involved a representative sample of 1,000 12-year old children in 1987, 1,331 in 1993, and 6,000 in 1998. RESULTS: An important decline of the caries focused in the first period - 22.8% vs. 4.5% in the period 1993-1998. All components in the DMFT Index decreased although they followed different patterns. The mean number of filled teeth consistently dropped over the entire 11 years in a context where the mean number of untreated carious teeth reached its lowest point in 1993 and increased thereafter. The four first molars accounted for the vast majority of the caries, 73.7% in 1998. In 1998 year, 44.9 % of children had caries-free first molars as opposed to 38.8 % in 1993 and 14.0 % in 1987. CONCLUSION: The influence of this caries evolution on the oral health system is discussed. Suggestions are advanced to integrate dentistry in a public health concept especially focused on the reduction of inequality.

Global burden of dental condition among children in nine countries participating in an international oral health promotion programme, 2012-2013.

The Live.Learn.Laugh. phase 2 programme is a unique global partnership between FDI World Dental Federation and Unilever Oral Care which aims to provide measurable improvement of oral health on a global scale through encouraging twice-daily brushing with a fluoride toothpaste. It was based on international recommendations using the principles of health promotion within school for the implementation of preventive health strategies. This paper is an overview of the dental caries condition of children from 2012 to 2013 in nine countries included in four World Health Organisation (WHO) regions. A cross-sectional study was conducted in each country before the implementation of health-promotion measures focused on twice-daily toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste. The sample was based on stratified sampling according to the WHO pathfinder recommendations. From a total of 7,949 children examined, there were 517 children (1-2 years of age), 1,667 preschool children (3-5 years of age) and 5,789 schoolchildren (6-13 years of age). The prevalence and severity of primary dental caries, early childhood caries and temporary dental caries were described using decayed, filled teeth (dft), permanent decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) indices and the significant caries index (SCI). The major findings were a high prevalence of caries, identification of high-risk groups and inequality in the distribution of the severity of dental conditions. Aggregated data from this overview should provide justification for implementing an oral health programme. The main point is the need to retain and expand the community fluoridation programme as an effective preventive measure. At the individual level, the aggregated data identify the need for more targeted efforts to reach children early - especially among specific high-risk groups.

LLL2: an international global level questionnaire on toothbrushing and use of fluoride toothpaste.

PURPOSE: To determine the evolution of toothbrushing frequency and use of fluoridetoothpaste in the FDI-Unilever partnership Live.Learn.Laugh. phase 2 programme using a self-reported questionnaire. METHODS: The study was conducted in 23 countries. The key focus of this partnership was to educate people about the benefits of twice-daily brushing with fluoride toothpaste and to support people in adopting this important oral health behaviour. The partnership offers a choice of four project options to the local partnership team of the National Dental Association and local Unilever-operating companies. A self-report questionnaire was used in all participating subjects in local projects to evaluate the brushing frequency, the brushing timing and the use of fluoride toothpaste. RESULTS: After implementation of the project interventions, a clear improvement in the reported frequency of brushing twice a day, regardless of the type of project, was observed. Subjects also increased day and night brushing and the use of fluoride toothpaste. CONCLUSION: The strategy of using mothers to increase healthy behaviours in oral health achieved the greatest increase in twice-daily toothbrushing, followed by the intervention in schools.

Rationale for the prevention of oral diseases in primary health care: an international collaborative study in oral health education.

Ensuring that members of society are healthy and reaching their full potential requires the prevention of oral diseases through the promotion of oral health and well-being. The present article identifies the best policy conditions of effective public health and primary care integration and the actors who promote and sustain these efforts. In this review, arguments and recommendations are provided to introduce an oral health collaborative promotion programme called Live.Learn.Laugh. phase 2, arising from an unique partnership between FDI World Dental Federation, the global company Unilever plc and an international network of National Dental Associations, health-care centres, schools and educators populations.