A children's oral health status index based on dentists' judgment

The children's oral health status index was developed as an integrated measure for the direct appraisal of pediatric patient populations in private practices, dental clinics, or school programs. The index is derived from a paired preference experiment with five pedodontists and five general dentists acting as judges of oral health in 200 case comparisons. Four easily measured variables are united numerically by the index: decayed teeth, occlusion, tooth position, and missing teeth (which have not been exfoliated). Clinical applications of the index in three geographic areas have all had good results.     

Dental health of dentists' children in Mongolia

Summary. Objectives. To describe the dental health of dentists’ children, to evaluate its association with their dentist‐parents’ background and work‐related characteristics and to compare it with that of children in the general population in Mongolia. Design. Cross‐sectional survey, questionnaire‐based data. Subjects. Dentists’ children, aged 3–13 years. Sample. All dentists (n = 250) actively practising in the capital city of Mongolia. Results. The dentists’ children's dmft ranged from 0 to 12, and DMFT from 0 to 8; 50% were caries‐free. The younger the children, the higher was their total caries experience expressed as the sum of DMFT + dmft scores (r = ?0·22; P = 0·001). Dentist‐parents’ background and work‐related factors were not associated with their children's caries status (P > 0·05). When dentists’ children were compared with their counterparts at the population level, mean dmft for 6‐year‐olds was 2·6 for (urban) dentists’ children, 6·5 for children in the urban population and 0·9 for those in rural population of equivalent age. Mean DMFT for 12‐year‐olds were 1·0, 1·8 and 1·2, respectively, in the same three groups. In general, (urban) dentists’ children in all age groups had better dental health than did their urban counterparts at the population level. Among 5–7‐year‐olds, dentists’ children had worse dental health than did their counterparts in the rural population. Conclusions. Despite the dentists’ knowledge and awareness, their children demonstrated higher rates of dental caries than expected. This suggests that Mongolian dentists may have insufficient preventive orientation. In particular, the primary dentition of younger children seems to be poorly valued. In Mongolia, dentists should have better training and education in modern methods of caries prevention and their advantages. Appreciation and care of the primary dentition need to be improved at all levels of oral health promotion in Mongolia.     

Survey of pediatric dentists' own oral health behavior

Oral health behavior is voluntary and, therefore, requires motivation. Dentists serve as role models for their patients. We sought to determine the pediatric dentists' own adherence to oral health behavior recommendations through a 14-question survey administered to 129 pediatric dentists. A significant percentage of respondents fell short in brushing, flossing and regularity of dental exams. A trend was seen for decreasing exam frequency with decreasing population density and for increasing brushing frequency with increasing age. Although most dentists follow their profession's oral health guidelines, a significant percentage does not.     

Dentistry's responsibility to community health through the public health dentist

Wurold Hillenbrand outlines cleurly, as usuaf, the need for cooperation between dental directors and dental societies.     

A comparison of general dentists' and pediatric dentists' treatment recommendations for primary teeth.

A survey which included a series of demographic questions, a brief clinical history, and pictures of eight radiographs was mailed to 2000 general dentists and 1000 pediatric dentists. Usable responses were received from 1369 (45%) dentists--765 (38%) general dentists, and 604 (60%) pediatric dentists. The dentists were asked to select the optimal treatment for a specified tooth in each radiograph. The results of this survey indicate that there were differences in the treatment recommendations of general and pediatric dentists. Whether or not pulp therapy was recommended, general dentists frequently recommended restoring teeth with amalgam. Pediatric dentists more frequently recommended restoring primary teeth with stainless steel crowns. There were differences in treatment recommendations within each group of practitioners, as well as between the two groups.     

Nordic dentists' knowledge and attitudes on dental amalgam from health and environmental perspectives

The aim of this study was to identify differences and similarities between the Nordic countries in dentists' use of dental amalgam as a restorative material, and also their knowledge and attitudes about amalgam from health, environmental, ethical, economic and social points of view. Procedures for handling amalgam waste were also studied. A random sample of 250 dentists was drawn from the national registers of authorized dentists in each country in late autumn 1997. At the beginning of 1998, a questionnaire was sent to all the dentists in the study group. The response rate was 77.6% in Denmark, 73.2% in Finland, 78.8% in Norway, and 84.0% in Sweden. In Finland and Sweden the use of dental amalgam had almost ceased, particularly for younger patients, while in Norway and especially in Denmark it was still widely used. Dentists' knowledge of the environmental effects of amalgam was confused, but most dentists had installed amalgam separators in their dental units by 1998. The majority of dentists in each country wanted to keep dental amalgam as a restorative material even in the future, and they did not want to ban the import of mercury to their home countries. Most dentists considered amalgam to be a health risk for at least some patients, and a great majority (from 76% in Sweden to 94% in Norway) considered composite as a possible odontological risk to patients. Since a majority of the dentists considered both amalgam and composites possibly harmful to patients, efforts to develop better alternatives to amalgam should continue.     

The children's program and the public health dentist

This report by the Commitee on Public Health Practice very well could serve as an editorial to prod an Association!     

A survey of dentists' drug prescribing practices

The drug prescribing practices of dentists should be of interest to the dental profession, drug manufacturers, the medical profession and dental educators. This article presents an update on an earlier similar survey reported by the authors as well as information on current infection control procedures, the treatment of hepatitis and AIDS patients, and generic drug substitution. The classes of drugs that are important to the practitioner and the level of prescribing activity have not changed appreciably since the earlier study. There has been, however, a significant change in nonopioid analgesic drug preference with ibuprofen overtaking aspirin and acetaminophen by a wide margin. That age affects the character of practice was confirmed: far fewer older practitioners report prescribing drugs than do their younger counterparts. A very gratifying finding was the high level of compliance with ADA recommendations regarding infectious diseases although fears over treating AIDS patients remain high.     

The public health dentist and his new approach to oral health education

When one reads this paper, he may become thankful that he practices dental public health in the United States. At the same time, he should not miss the implications for this country.