Screening and Preventive Interventions for Oral Health in Children and Adolescents Aged 5 to 17 Years: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.

Importance: Oral health is fundamental to health and well-being across the lifespan. Oral health conditions affect the daily lives of school-age children and adolescents, leading to loss of more than 51 million school hours every year. Untreated oral health conditions in children can lead to serious infections and affect growth, development, and quality of life. Objective: The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a systematic review to evaluate screening and preventive interventions for oral health conditions in children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. Population: Asymptomatic children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. Evidence Assessment: The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for oral health conditions (eg, dental caries) performed by primary care clinicians in asymptomatic children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of preventive interventions for oral health conditions (eg, dental caries) performed by primary care clinicians in asymptomatic children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. Recommendations: The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of routine screening performed by primary care clinicians for oral health conditions, including dental caries, in children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. (I statement) The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of preventive interventions performed by primary care clinicians for oral health conditions, including dental caries, in children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. (I statement).

[The impact of primary prevention programs of dental diseases on the main trends in the development of dental services]. / Vliyanie programm pervichnoi profilaktiki stomatologicheskikh zabolevanii na osnovnye tendentsii razvitiya stomatologicheskoi sluzhby.

The vision of the global strategy on oral health is universal health coverage for oral health for all individuals and communities by 2030, enabling them to enjoy the highest attainable state of oral health and contributing to healthy and productive lives (WHO, 2022). To achieve this goal, it is necessary to ensure the development of the dental care system in Russia on the basis of primary prevention of dental diseases. OBJECTIVE: Analysis of the methodology for the development, implementation and evaluation of programs for the primary prevention of dental diseases and their impact on the main trends in the development of dental services. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The main research methods were search for publications, analysis and systematization of information on the methodology for developing, implementing and evaluating programs for the primary prevention of dental diseases. RESULTS: Despite the single main goal of dental disease prevention programs, the analysis of the methodology of their construction and implementation must be carried out considering their impact on the main trends in the development of dental services. CONCLUSIONS: The main directions of development of the methodology for the development, implementation, and evaluation of primary prevention programs of dental diseases should include the use of indicators of oral health recognized by the international community, which allow us to trace the degree of their influence on the development of the system of dental care.

Impact of Establishing Dental Access for Preventable Infectious Dental Diseases (PIDD) in Medical Settings: Case Study from Rural Wisconsin.

OBJECTIVE: The frequency of Preventable Infectious Dental Disease (PIDD) visits in medical centers was examined pre and post establishment of expanded dental access and adoption of an integrated medical-dental care delivery model. METHODS: A retrospective observational study of patient attributes and frequency of unscheduled PIDD visits between January 1, 1990 and February 29, 2020. Chi-squared tests compared (a) the number of PIDD visits (pre/post dental center establishment), (b) age at first diagnosis, (c) gender, (d) race, (e) primary insurance at the time of PIDD visits and (f) healthcare setting where visit occurred. RESULTS: System-wide, 21,957 unique patients were documented with a total of 34,892 PIDD visits as the primary diagnosis. Patients between 18-30 years and patients with Medicaid had the highest frequency of PIDD visits in medical settings. Following the establishment of dental centers, reduced relative risk of PIDD visits was observed for patients with no health insurance or self-pay/other coverage. PIDD visits in primary care settings was 0.87 times as likely as PIDD visits at ED/UCs after dental centers opened. CONCLUSIONS: The number of PIDD visits to medical centers increased before the dental infrastructure was established, followed by a decline afterwards, inclusive of disparity populations. Some residual persistence of PIDD visits to primary care settings was identified. This study reinforced importance of dental healthcare access for achieving appropriate PIDD management while reducing PIDD visits to medical settings.

[Department of dental diseases prevention of the Central Research Institute of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery]. / Otdelenie profilaktiki stomatologicheskikh zabolevanii FGBU NMITs «TsNIIS i ChLKh¼.

The article is devoted to the creation and development history of the Dental Diseases Prevention department in National Medical Research Center of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery, Moscow, Russia. The main scientific and clinical achievements of the department's staff are presented in chronological order. The main directions of the scientific and clinical activities of the department are currently: the study of various factors affecting dental morbidity; the development of regionally-oriented programs for the prevention of dental diseases; organizational and methodological guidance and monitoring of primary prevention activities in organized groups of children and adolescents; the implementation of a set of measures for the primary prevention of dental diseases among adolescents and adult population applying to the polyclinic; introduction into practice of new methods and means of prevention and treatment of dental diseases; testing of new methods and means of prevention corresponding to the profile of the department, providing dental care to adolescents and adults; raising the level of theoretical knowledge and training practical skills in the prevention of dental diseases of medical personnel of healthcare institutions; promotion of sanitary and hygienic knowledge among the population.

Promoting the Importance of Recall Visits Among Dental Patients in India Using a Semi-Autonomous AI System.

In many developing countries like India, there is a widespread lack of general awareness about the importance of good oral health, which causes dental patients to neglect their oral hygiene, thus precipitating many long-term ailments. We developed an application that promotes the significance of regular dental checkups and oral health care by explaining to patients how these are intrinsic to overall health. Our application, in essence, extracts relevant health information from published scientific studies according to a patient's medical history and shares it with the patient at the discretion of the supervising dentist, thereby empowering patients to make more informed decisions. We present a detailed overview of our semi- autonomous machine learning-based solution, along with the complex challenges involved in the design, development, and real-world deployment of our application. Finally, we conducted a randomized parallel-group study in India with 224 dental patients over two years to assess the utility of our proposed solution. Results show our application improved the patient recall rate from 21.1% to 37.8% (p-value = 0.024).

[Influence of systemic diseases on the diagnosis and treatment of dental diseases and prevention of related risks].

Patients with dental problems may suffer from various systemic diseases at the same time. The concomitant systemic diseases can have impacts and risks on the diagnosis, treatment planning and therapeutic practice in dentistry. The author briefly expounds the influences of systemic diseases on dental diagnosis and treatment and the prevention of risks from seven aspects: cardio-cerebral vascular system, blood system, respiratory system, endocrine system, digestive system, genitourinary system, nervous system and mental system, in order to provide references for the dental clinicians.

Influence of systemic diseases on the diagnosis and treatment of dental diseases and prevention of related risks / 中华口腔医学杂志

Patients with dental problems may suffer from various systemic diseases at the same time. The concomitant systemic diseases can have impacts and risks on the diagnosis, treatment planning and therapeutic practice in dentistry. The author briefly expounds the influences of systemic diseases on dental diagnosis and treatment and the prevention of risks from seven aspects: cardio-cerebral vascular system, blood system, respiratory system, endocrine system, digestive system, genitourinary system, nervous system and mental system, in order to provide references for the dental clinicians.

Oral health training for general practitioners and general practice teams.

The role of oral health in promoting general health and wellbeing is recognised, but there is minimal oral health training for doctors, including GPs. The Directorate of Multi-Disciplinary Dental Education (DMDE) at Health Education England North East and North Cumbria has introduced oral health training for GPs, incorporating training recommended by NICE oral health guidance. DMDE oral health training for GPs and general practice teams covered the diagnosis, prevention and management of oral disease, relevant prescribing and accessing dental care. Training has been shown to be worthwhile, positively impacting upon the clinical practice of GPs and thereby improving patient care. General health benefits are anticipated. Interactive training, as outlined in the DMDE lesson plan, was deemed effective. 1-hour courses conveniently delivered within general practices were most popular with GPs. Online courses have been less popular. Barriers to training were overcome through producing a promotional brochure and gaining the support of NHS medical leaders, who assisted with its distribution. A shift to training the trainer will improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of training. It is recommended that all GPs receive oral health training.

A Review on Impact of Medicinal Plants on the Treatment of Oral and Dental Diseases.

Plants play a vital role in the general wellbeing of an individual. Globally plants are habitually used by the people for the treatment and prevention of various ailments. There is an increased attempt made from ancient days to prevent the disease occurrence rather than to treat it. Through the development of modern scientific procedures, it is now identified that the usage of plants in different forms promotes the health of the patient. Oral and dental hygiene is the primary factor of a human being to lead a healthy life. Poor diet, nutrition and improper hygienic practices lead to teeth and gum diseases, dental cavities and plaque etc., Use of herbal extracts and their products in day-to-day life is a promising and interesting alternative to synthetic compounds to control oral diseases. The present review summarizes the usage of medicinal plants in the treatment and prevention of oral and dental diseases in different aspects.

Knowledge and Practices of Pregnant Women regarding Oral Health in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Nepal.

INTRODUCTION: Poor dental hygiene has been associated with various perinatal complications in studies done worldwide but few studies in Nepal have explored the knowledge of pregnant ladies regarding dental hygiene. The aim of the study was to know the knowledge and practices of pregnant women regarding oral health in a tertiary care center in Nepal. METHODS: A qualitative study was carried out in Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital from January 15, 2018 to June 15, 2018 after approval from the Institutional Review Committee of Nobel Medical College. Convenience sampling was done. Fifty pregnant women admitted in antenatal ward were interviewed regarding their knowledge of dental care in pregnancy, the common dental problems they faced and the treatment taken. A predesigned proforma was used and results were analyzed using SPSS version 17. RESULTS: Twenty two (44%) patients reported dental problems during pregnancy. Bleeding gums was seen in 7 (14%) and toothache in 7 (14%) were commonly reported dental problems. Forty seven (94%) patients acknowledged that routine dental care was needed for health, only 6 (12%) were aware that poor dental health could affect baby weight. Oral health not seen as priority in 24 (48%) was the main barrier to seeking dental care in pregnancy followed by costs of treatment in 18 (36%) and safety concerns in pregnancy in 8 (16%) cases. CONCLUSIONS: Though dental problems were a common occurrence in pregnancy, utilization of services was low for the same. The participants reported significant barriers to obtaining dental care including lack of knowledge about the importance of maternal oral health and the treatment costs.

Effectiveness of school-based dental screening in increasing dental care utilization: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: School based dental screening has been a popular public health intervention. However, literature provides contrasting evidence regarding effectiveness of such programs on the utilization of dental services. OBJECTIVES: We designed this review to understand the differences in dental attendance rates of children below 15 years of age, receiving a school based dental screening versus those not receiving it. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The standard methodological procedures prescribed by The Cochrane Collaboration for Systematic review and meta-analysis was employed. An electronic (MEDLINE via PUBMED, Cochrane trial registry, and Google scholar) and a manual search (2016) were made to identify studies. RESULTS: Five studies met the inclusion criteria, covering a population of 28208 school children of which 21447 were included in the meta-analysis. The review concludes that school based dental screening marginally increases the dental attendance by 16 percent as opposed to a non-screening group (RR 1.16 (95% CI 1.11, 1.21). The quality of evidence was found to be low. CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence of marginally increased dental attendance rate of 16 % following screening. As the quality of evidence was found to be low, the results of this review may be used with caution.

Patient education in dental medicine: A review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: In dental medicine, chronic diseases and chronic conditions (such as chronic periodontitis, temporomandibular disorders, chronic orofacial pain) justify patient education to self-care. This strategy of secondary or tertiary prevention, even if officially recognised, is still less known compared to health education, a form of primary prevention. The aim of the study was to make the point of recent studies devoted to patient education. Thus, the purpose of the study was to give an updated picture of patient education in odontology, describing, through an analysis of the international literature from 2006 to 2016, its characteristics and development. METHODS: The main databases selected were: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Sciences, DOSS, 302 articles published between 2006 and 2016 on patient education among which four RCTs and a case study were analysed because of their rigorous scientific quality. RESULTS: Patient education concerns chronic diseases and conditions also in the field of orthodontics. This limited number of studies, showed that patient education in odontology can bring real bio-clinic, cognitive, psychological and economic benefits to patients. Overall, it allows patients to better understand their illness and treatment and, thus, to improve their health behaviours and self-care techniques, which would reduce the treatment costs. Educational interventions in odontology should constitute a component of patient education in several chronic systemic diseases such as diabetes. It would be necessary to train future practitioners in this field and to develop a scientific research on this practice.

Awareness of oral medicine among medical practitioners, evidence of the unbridged interdisciplinary gap.

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: Inadequate awareness of oral health and related disciplines appears to be common among medical practitioners. This study was designed to evaluate the awareness of oral medicine (OM) specialty and its scope of practice among Jordanian medical practitioners and to outline potential strategies for improvement where appropriate. METHOD: A specially designed questionnaire was electronically distributed to Jordanian medical practitioners and thereafter via personal interviews to improve the response rate. The questionnaire comprised nine questions and covered demographical details and characteristics of participants, in addition to their awareness of OM and agreement to refer a group of common oral and dental conditions to OM specialists. Pearson Chi-square tests were used to examine the significance of association between the variables of respondents and awareness of OM. Significance level was set at P values < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 1492 respondents completed the questionnaire, of which 779 (52.2%) were aware of OM as an independent specialty. Age group, higher degrees in medicine, country of graduation, and the specialty type were significant determinants of OM awareness level. Oral ulceration and other mucosal pathology, including fungal infections, were the most likely conditions to be referred to OM specialists while participants had apparent problems separating the scope of practice of OM from other dental disciplines. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence on the profound interdisciplinary gap between medicine and dentistry and highlights the importance of more focused education and training in oral health-related disciplines to be provided to clinicians and medical trainees as described.

Review of a three-year study on the dental care of onco-hematological pediatric patients.

The aim of this study was to provide an updated review of dental procedures undertaken at the dental unit of the Onco-hematology service of the Instituto da Criança at the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo (ICr/HC-FMUSP). We retrospectively reviewed 565 of 1902 medical and dental records of patients diagnosed with onco-hematological diseases who were seen in a 3-year study (January 2015 to December 2017). We assessed data regarding population characteristics, onco-hematological diagnosis and dental procedures performed. Of the selected medical records, preventive dentistry was the most common procedure undertaken in this population, followed by oral maxillofacial surgeries, restorative dentistry and oral mucositis treatment. The most prevalent malignant diagnosis was acute lymphocytic leukemia, and the most prevalent nonmalignant diagnosis was sickle-cell anemia. Preventive dental procedures represent most of the dental procedures undertaken in hospitalized onco-hematological pediatric patients.

Behavior guidance: that was then but this is now.

Pediatric dentistry has evolved. Seasoned pediatric dentists believe that patients, parents, and behavior techniques have changed over their practice lifetimes. The purpose of this article is to provide dentists with a framework in which to adapt to the changes in society. Understanding cultural diversity, current societal values, technology and media influences, and contemporary parenting philosophies is essential to fostering communication with patients and their families. Building and honing behavior guidance skills are part of the process by which dentists help turn child patients into fearless adult patients with excellent oral health. This article reviews basic techniques and offers practical examples of implementing these in daily practice. The discussion also addresses changing parental and societal acceptance of various techniques and dentists' responsibility for informed consent regarding the risks and benefits of advanced behavior guidance techniques. Treating a patient from childhood to adulthood is the ultimate opportunity for the dentist to play a vital role in advancing the health and wellness of another human being.

Social dentistry: an old heritage for a new professional approach.

If dental professionals want to improve the oral health of their patients, they need to address what makes them sick: the social determinants of health. In this article, we propose a model of 'social dentistry' that shows how dentists could tackle these fundamental causes of oral disease. Socially engaged dentists conduct actions at three levels. At the individual level, they provide patient-centred care and, when necessary, liaise with local resources to better address what makes their patients sick. At the community level, they adapt their practice to the needs of the most vulnerable groups and advocate for healthier local policies. At the societal level, they are engaged in upstream actions addressing the social determinants of health.