Key Points
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School dental screening is ineffective at prompting children to attend a dentist
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Screened positive children fail to receive appropriate dental care.
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School dental screening fails to reduce socio-economic inequalities.
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Can school dental screening in its current format be justified?
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Can access to schools afforded by dental screening be better used?
Abstract
Objective To determine dental attendance and treatment outcomes following two models of dental screening.
Design An observational prospective cohort study.
Setting Infant, primary and junior schools in the North West of England.
Subjects Children aged six to nine years at the start of the study.
Interventions Subjects received a screening examination according to either a 'Traditional model' or 'New model' of school dental screening
Main outcome measures Attendance at a dentist within four months of the intervention and treatment received by children referred via the 'New model' with caries in their permanent teeth.
Results In the 'New model' of school dental screening 46% of screened positive and 41% of screened negative children attended a dentist during the study period. Some 44% of children referred with caries in permanent teeth attended a dentist and 53% of those attending received treatment for the referred condition. Larger proportions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds were screened positive but higher proportions of children from more affluent backgrounds attended the dentist and subsequently received treatment.
Conclusion School dental screening has a minimal impact on dental attendance and only a small proportion of screened positive children receive appropriate treatment. The programme fails to reduce inequalities in utilisation of dental services.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank: The children who participated in the trial, the head teachers who allowed the study to be delivered and the dental epidemiological and screening teams who delivered the fieldwork; The Dental Practice Board and The Merseyside and Cheshire R&D Support Unit and in particular Dr Ruth Hunter; and Professor R. Ireland for his assistance in the development of the 'New model' of school dental screening. The study was funded by the North West Region Department of Health Research and Development programme. The Views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the funding authority.
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Milsom, K., Threlfall, A., Blinkhorn, A. et al. The effectiveness of school dental screening: dental attendance and treatment of those screened positive. Br Dent J 200, 687–690 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4813724
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4813724
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