Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Assessing Dental Health

Abstract

The present study investigated the distribution profile of dental caries and its association with areas of social deprivation at the individual and contextual level. The cluster sample consisted of 1,002 12-year-old schoolchildren from Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. The DMFT Index was used for dental caries and the Care Index was used to determine access to dental services. On the individual level, variables were associated with a better oral status. On the contextual level, areas were not associated with oral status. However, maps enabled determining that the central districts have better social and oral conditions than the deprived outlying districts.

An Environmental Assessment of School Shade Tree Canopy and Implications for Sun Safety Policies: The Los Angeles Unified School District

“…Research indicates that the earliest disease maps were found in Germany over 200 years ago [13]. Over time, the use of GIS has emerged in the field of disease surveillance [14], linking correlations to health, environment, and location [13,15], in addition to informing longitudinal studies [14,16]. Nykiforuk and Flaman [17] have identified four major themes in health GIS: disease surveillance, risk analysis, health access and planning, and community health profiling.…”

“…The field of urban planning and health is among the first in policy analysis through GIS, for example through the design of health impact and health risk assessments, integrating GIS to determine how policy will affect populations in urban space [18,19]. GIS has also been an aid to understanding the relationship between health and the environment as a facilitator of a "continuous process of planning, monitoring, and evaluating health", allowing for a quick identification of locations where there are health problems at a greater frequency [15]. As a result, health policy benefits from the use of GIS through the analysis and visualization of data in geographic format.…”

The association between geographical factors and dental caries in a rural area in Mexico

“…Factors addressed by health geography studies investigating the dynamics of dental health disparities include the following: the geographical distribution of dental professionals 14,15,16,17 ; variables representing socioeconomic status 18,19,20,21,22,23 ; and lifestyle behaviors associated with poor oral health, such as consumption of sugared beverages and dental attendance patterns 16,24 .…”

“…However, most studies have been limited to contrasts between rural and urban environments and little research has been carried out into the geographical factors that influence access to dental care and the prevalence of oral conditions 16,20,23,25,26,27,28,29 . Although some Brazilian and Australian studies have investigated geographical barriers 22,23,26,27 , we believe that there is still a lack of comprehensive research into these factors.…”

“…Although some Brazilian and Australian studies have investigated geographical barriers 22,23,26,27 , we believe that there is still a lack of comprehensive research into these factors. One of the explanations for this gap in research is that most studies in developed nations rightly assume that the distance or time spent traveling to the nearest dental clinic is relatively insignificant compared to the cost of care at the point of delivery; a glaring exception are the long distances involved in visiting the dentist in rural areas in a vast country such as Australia 26,27 .…”