General dental practitioners' approach to caries prevention in high-caries-risk children.
Eur Arch Paediatr Dent
; 22(2): 187-193, 2021 Apr.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32572857
ABSTRACT
AIMS:
To evaluate the advice and preventive care provided by General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) to high-caries-risk children in Jordan.METHODS:
A cross-sectional study using an open-ended questionnaire. GDPs were presented with a high-caries-risk child scenario and asked regarding (1) oral hygiene and dietary advice they would give; (2) preventive-care they would offer; (3) barriers they face in prevention delivery. Answers were compared to an evidence-based guideline. Data were input into SPSS-20 and analysed using descriptive statistics and frequencies. Chi-square test was used to compare results by age, gender, practice location and type.RESULTS:
One-hundred and sixty GDPs were approached and 128 agreed to participate (80%), of whom 87 (69%) were female. The average age was 31 years [range 22-50]. Sixty-nine percent practiced in the capital, Amman. Sixty-five percent gave advice on tooth-brushing frequency, but only 23% suggested brushing at bed-time and 24% recommended parental supervision. None provided advice on toothpaste fluoride content. Seventy-one percent advised reducing sugary-food amounts, but only 21% focused on frequency and 2% suggested using diet diaries. Most knew about fissure-sealants (77%) and fluoride-varnish (80%). Forty-two percent reported barriers to delivering preventive-care, including parental attitudes (36%), child cooperation (30%), financial reward (19%), and training (6%). Participants practicing outside of the capital were less likely to use fluoride-varnish [P = 0.002] and more likely to report barriers [P = 0.001].CONCLUSIONS:
Advice delivered by GDPs to high-caries-risk children in Jordan does not meet the standards of an evidence-based guideline. Future initiatives for oral-health-promotion should aim to address the barriers reported, especially outside the capital.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Dental Caries
/
Dentists
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Guideline
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Eur Arch Paediatr Dent
Journal subject:
ODONTOLOGIA
/
PEDIATRIA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jordan