Incorporation of Dental Health Screening in Paediatric Office Practice

Abstract

Introduction: Dental health problems in children are often overlooked. Poor oral health negatively affects growth, learning, communication, self-esteem and rarely can also lead to serious fatal infection. Paediatrician can play key role in screening dental health problems. The objectives of this study were to screen children for dental caries in paediatric office and correlate with socio-demographic, dietary and oral hygiene risk factors.Material and Methods: After basic oral health training, paediatrician assessed oral health risk factors with pre-validated questionnaire and carried out dental examination at paediatric OPD.Results: Dental health problems were found in 364(42.8%) out of 850 subjects. Age was significantly associated (p<0.0001) with type of teeth involved. Incisors were most affected in infants and involvement of posterior teeth increased with age. Statistically significant (p<0.05) oral health risk factors were increasing age, lower socio-economic status, malnutrition, lower parents’ education, positive family history, bottle feeding, increased consumption of biscuits, fizzy drinks and chewing gum; delayed start and less time spent on brushing, infrequent change of toothbrush, incorrect brushing technique, inadequate parental knowledge and supervision.Conclusion: Dental screening can easily be incorporated in busy paediatric practice. An identification and record of individual risk factor is useful in selecting counselling strategies and monitoring.

Barriers to Utilisation of Dental Services among Children with Disabilities in a Coordinated Healthcare Programme in Mangalore, South India: A Mixed Methods Study

“…In addition to the above, it is suggested that dental educators, administrators, and policy-makers in the fi eld of preventive dentistry and dental public health must focus their undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum towards redefi ning and restructuring the art of imparting dental education to the public, particularly to those with special health care needs (Kenney et al, 2008;DeMatt ei et al, 2012;Petrova et al, 2014). The current study, like many others previously published in dental literature, clearly elicits the need to revamp our educational strategy for the next generation of dental practitioners and specialists; to redirect their att ention towards a more inclusive system that lets healthcare professionals draw on the combined knowledge and resources in an att empt to improve disadvantaged communities like those with special needs, their caregivers and families (Waldman et al, 2001;DeMattei et al, 2012;Petrova et al, 2014;Dagli et al, 2017).…”

“…The low statistics appear counter-intuitive in light of the well-documented need for such an integrated dental and comprehensive healthcare programme (DeMattei et al, 2012;Dagli et al, 2017;Kharbanda & Dhingra, 2017;Pathak, 2017;Mandic et al, 2018). While the numbers show a definite improvement from previous years in the form of revisits (from 5.2% across 2016-18 to 16% during the short 6-month study period), they are still disappointing.…”

“…This calls for a reform in strategy among dental care providers, to consciously focus on imparting dental education in their patients, especially when dealing with children with special health care needs and their caregivers. Moving a step further, such dental education must also be imparted to other healthcare professionals, to enable them to make easy and ready dental referrals, with particular emphasis on deferring medical prescriptions for dental problems until the appropriate dental consultations are made (Waldman et al, 2001;Waldman & Perlman, 2002;Dagli et al, 2017).…”