Bringing together child health professionals and dental experts to tackle oral health in children

Abstract

BackgroundIn the UK, poor oral health among children continues to be a major public health concern. Primary care professionals are encouraged to take a proactive approach in engaging parents and carers to develop better oral health practices for their children. Unfortunately, research has shown that patients are often exposed to inconsistent and at worst conflicting advice.AimTo increase the confidence of primary care professionals in their knowledge surrounding preventative oral health and ensure the delivery of consistent and proactive oral health advice.MethodA local dentist and dental health educator were invited to a general practice multidisciplinary meeting to deliver an educational session on oral health advice for children. Qualitative and quantitative data in form of a questionnaire was collected to analyse the impact of the education session.ResultsThe meeting was attended by 15 healthcare professionals including GPs, paediatricians, a community mental health representative, and a school nurse. There were 78% of attendees who reported that they had never received any formal teaching on oral health care prior to this session. Qualitative data highlighted specific gaps in knowledge, while confidence ratings suggest significant improvement in confidence of attendees in their knowledge of oral health in children.ConclusionAchieving good oral health for all children requires the support of a wide range of healthcare professionals. Further education sessions such as this encourages joint learning and relationship building between professionals and influences behaviour to improve child health care as part of making every contact count. The emerging Primary Care Networks provide an excellent setting to deliver this education.

Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Clinical Practices of Pediatricians and Pediatric Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…By improving their oral health literacy and incorporating oral health into the routines of well-childcare, they can help prevent oral disease, improving not only children's oral health but their general health as well [65]. Studies have shown that a couple of hours of training is enough to help primary care physicians accurately diagnose caries and identify high-risk children who need dental referrals [41,[66][67][68]. Preventive measures initiated during the first years of life can significantly reduce the risk of developing dental caries and the need for more expensive restorative procedures later in life [43].…”

Animal obesity: What insights can a one health approach offer when it comes to veterinarians ‘making every contact count’?

“…MECC is recommended regardless of the patient's purpose of contact or the practitioner's speciality 32 . In recent years, the effectiveness of MECC in human healthcare has been explored across a number of domains, including chronic conditions in adults and children, radiography, dentistry, vaccine uptake and smoking cessation during the COVID pandemic 34–39 …”

“…32 In recent years, the effectiveness of MECC in human healthcare has been explored across a number of domains, including chronic conditions in adults and children, radiography, dentistry, vaccine uptake and smoking cessation during the COVID pandemic. [34][35][36][37][38][39] A key question concerns whether veterinarians believe they have a role to play or the skills needed for MECC. While there is a developing body of literature as to whether and how veterinarians engage clients in the weight management of their pets, 24,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] this paper also draws on the evidence in human healthcare contexts, which specifically identifies practitioner perspectives on MECC, barriers to MECC and studies identifying when and how MECC has efficacy.…”