scholarly journals Effectiveness of School Oral Health Screening and Factors Affecting Dental Attendance Among Female Primary School Children in Saudi Arabia

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 63-68
Author(s):  
Shreyas Tikare ◽  
Nabeeh A. AlQahtani ◽  
Alezi Braimoh Eroje ◽  
Khadeeja Maleh AlQahtani ◽  
Jawaher Ahmad Assiri ◽  
...  

Objectives: School dental screening and referral is a dental public health measure that helps children with oral health problems to come in contact with dental services. Recent studies have failed to demonstrate the effectiveness of school screening programs in stimulating dental attendance. The objective of the present study is to assess the effectiveness of school oral health screening in stimulating dental attendance and factors affecting dental attendance among female primary school children in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A multistage cluster random sampling method was used in which the unit of randomization was the school. All children were given comprehensive oral health education followed by oral screening. Oral health referrals to visit dental clinic were given to children needing any dental treatment. The parents were contacted by telephone two months after oral health referral and information on child’s dental attendance and reasons for failing to attend dental clinics was collected according to predetermined set of questions and the data was subjected to statistical analysis. Results: A total of 1,035 female school children aged 6 to 12 years received oral health education at school followed by dental screening. Only 211 (23.8%) children attended dental clinics after receiving oral health referrals. The most important reason for not attending the dental clinic was difficulty for working parents to take time off (41.2%) followed by logistic problems (20.4%) and some parents thought dental treatment was not important since there was no pain (9.7%). The least perceived barriers were cost of dental treatment (3.6%), difficulty in taking leave from school (3%), and school exams (3%). Conclusions: School oral health screening and referrals have been found to be ineffective at stimulating dental attendance. Parental factors like ‘lack of time’ and ‘logistic problems’ for taking their child to the dentist were found to be major factors affecting dental attendance. Methods to improve parent’s awareness regarding oral health of children and alternative choices to ensure adequate dental care to vulnerable children needs to be explored.

Author(s):  
Seon-Hui Kwak ◽  
Soo-Myoung Bae ◽  
Sun-Jung Shin ◽  
Bo-Mi Shin

We conducted a multilevel analysis to identify factors affecting adolescents’ preventive dental treatment experience in South Korea. We sampled 72,435 students who participated in the 9th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey. The individual-level variables were divided into demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, oral health behavioral factors, and oral symptom experience factors. The regional-level variables included oral health resources, rate of students receiving oral health education at school by region, social deprivation index, and the number of private educational institutions. A higher rate of receiving oral health education in school by region was associated with increased fluoride application (1.04 times, p = 0.003). However, the number of private educational institutes per 1000 people was negatively associated with fluoride application experienced by students (0.64 times, p = 0.039). Students underwent more scaling when there were more dentists per 10,000 individuals (1.14 times, p = 0.008) and less scaling in areas with a higher social deprivation index (0.88 times, p = 0.024). To increase the access to preventive care for oral diseases among adolescents, a preventive system should be established in schools, and a primary dental care system should be established through the cooperation of the government, private dental clinics, and schools.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
AbdulhadiIbrahim Ali Alhayek ◽  
MousaJafar Alsulaiman ◽  
HussainAli Almuhanna ◽  
MohammedAbdullah Alsalem ◽  
MohammedAbdulaziz Althaqib ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Anguach Shitie ◽  
Rahel Addis ◽  
Abebe Tilahun ◽  
Wassie Negash

Background. Dental caries (decay or cavities) is a breakdown of teeth as a result of bacteria. Dental caries is one of the preventable oral health problems and the most common chronic diseases in childhood. Poor dental and oral health affect the quality of children’s life. Objectives. To estimate the prevalence of dental caries and its associated factors among primary school children in Alem Ketema, North Showa, Ethiopia. Methodology. An institution-based quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 primary school children, from February 9 to March 8, 2020. Pretested structured questionnaire and oral examinations were conducted by using the WHO criteria (DMFT) index to collect the data. The data were entered into Epi-Data 3.1 software, and analysis was carried out using SPSS version 23 and variables with P value ≤0.05 in the multivariable binary logistic analysis were considered as a cut-point to declare statistical significance. Result. The prevalence of dental caries was 46.9% (95% CI: 42.1, 51.7). The mean Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index was 1.28 (±1.21). Being male (AOR = 1.975, 95% CI = 1.067–3.66), lack of parents’ insistence (AOR = 2.052, 95% CI = 1.079–3.902), lack of oral health education program (AOR = 4.753, 95% CI = 1.69–13.38), history of dental aches (AOR = 2.88, 95% CI = 1.55–5.32), and poor habit of mouth wash (AOR = 4.74, 95% CI = 2.55–8.79) were found significantly associated with dental caries. Conclusion. The prevalence of dental caries was higher and a common public health problem among school children. Lack of parent’s insistence, sex, dental ache history, poor practices of mouth wash, and lack of oral health education were significant predictors of dental caries. Therefore, oral health education program and parents encouraging their children to practice oral hygiene are important to prevent dental caries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Suliman Halawany ◽  
Abid Al Badr ◽  
Salwa Al Sadhan ◽  
Mashaiel Al Balkhi ◽  
Nassr Al-Maflehi ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 320-328
Author(s):  
Sosham John ◽  
Hamda Sultan AlMesmar

<b><i>Objective:</i></b> Oral health is an integral part of preventive healthcare for pregnant women. This study aimed to determine the oral health problems and oral hygiene practices and identify the factors affecting dental treatment utilization among a representative population of pregnant women in Dubai. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from anonymous structured questionnaires filled by 1,450 pregnant women attending primary health centers across different geographical locations in Dubai. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Of the 1,450 women, 97.8% brushed at least once a day. At least one dental problem during pregnancy was reported by 49.9%, but dental attendance during pregnancy was only 17.4%. Factors associated with dental visits were nationality, previous pregnancy, oral health problems, brushing habits, routine dental visits, and professional advice on oral care. The odds of dental attendance increase for UAE national women by 1.48, women who had other children before the current pregnancy by 1.35, those having oral health problems by 1.85, those who brush more than once a day by 1.51, those who visited the dentist routinely at least once a year by 1.92, and those who received oral health education by 2.82. The most cited reasons for not going to the dentist were no perceived dental problem (51.8%) and concerns regarding the safety of dental treatment during pregnancy (33.9%). <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> In spite of acceptable oral hygiene practices, a significant number of pregnant women (49.9%) experience dental problems. However, only a few women (17.4%) visit the dentist during their pregnancy. It is critical to design and implements strategic oral health programs for pregnant women in Dubai.


2021 ◽  
pp. 103686
Author(s):  
Eman S. Almabadi ◽  
Gregory J. Seymour ◽  
Rahena Akhter ◽  
Adrian Bauman ◽  
Mary P. Cullinan ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Y. AL Khafaji ◽  
Nadia A Al Rawi

Background: Oral health and nutrition are in interdependent relationship that good nutritional health enhancing good oral health. Nutrition can affect the development and integrity of oral cavity and the progression of oral disease. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of the gingival health condition in relation to the nutritional status, among 10 years old primary school children in urban and rural area in Al-Hillah city. Material and method: Eight hundred ninety one (891) students, aged10 years old, selected randomly from different primary schools, in urban and rural area in Al-Hillah city, were included in this study. Oral examination including of plaque index assessment, which was done according to the criteria by Silness and Loe, in 1964, gingival health conditions was determined according to Loe and Silness, 1963. Nutritional status was assessed using body mass index (BMI), following the criteria of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth chart (CDC). Statistical analysis was done using Kruskal Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test and ANOVA, p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: This study showed that the majority of the sample was found to be with normal gingival health condition. No significant difference was observed between the gingival index in relation to gender, or residence also, no significant result was found, between plaque and gingival index in relation to the nutritional status. Conclusion: The majority of the sample with normal gingiva however the nutritional status had no significant effect on gingival health condition while the urbanization had an effect on oral hygiene


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