Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Apr;133(4):e827-34.
doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-2561. Epub 2014 Mar 31.

Office-based preventive dental program and statewide trends in dental caries

Leo N Achembong  1 , Ashley M Kranz, R Gary Rozier
Affiliations

Office-based preventive dental program and statewide trends in dental caries

Leo N Achembong et al. Pediatrics. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a North Carolina Medicaid preventive dentistry program in primary care medical offices (Into the Mouths of Babes Program [IMBP]) on decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) of kindergarten students statewide and in schools with a large proportion of students from low-income families.

Methods: An ecologic study using panel data of 920,505 kindergarten students with 11,694 school-year observations examined the effect of the IMBP on dmft scores from 1998 to 2009. Ordinary least squares regression with fixed effects determined the association between IMBP visits per child 0 to 4 years of age per county and mean dmft scores per kindergarten student per school, controlling for school-level poverty and ethnicity, county-level Medicaid enrollment, and supply of dentists and physicians.

Results: Mean dmft per kindergarten student per school increased from 1.53 in 1998 to 1.84 in 2004, then decreased to 1.59 in 2009. The mean number of IMBP visits per child 0 to 4 years of age per county increased from 0.01 in 2000 to 0.22 in 2009. A 1-unit increase in IMBP visits per county was associated with a 0.248 (95% confidence interval, -0.40 to -0.10) decrease in dmft per kindergarten student per school. For schools with more students at high risk for dental disease, a 1-unit increase in IMBP visits was associated with a 0.320 (95% confidence interval, -0.55 to -0.09) decrease in dmft.

Conclusions: IMBP reduced dental caries among targeted vulnerable children, which helped reduce oral health disparities among preschool-aged children in North Carolina.

Keywords: dental caries; early childhood; fluoride varnish; prevention; primary care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Annual average number of IMBP visits per child aged 0 to 4 years per county.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Marcenes W, Kassebaum NJ, Bernabé E, et al. . Global burden of oral conditions in 1990–2010: a systematic analysis. J Dent Res. 2013;92(7):592–597 - PMC - PubMed
    1. US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 2013. Healthy People 2010 topic and objectives. Oral health. Available at: www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=32. Accessed July 23, 2013
    1. Dye BA, Arevalo O, Vargas CM. Trends in paediatric dental caries by poverty status in the United States, 1988–1994 and 1999–2004. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2010;20(2):132–143 - PubMed
    1. Beltrán-Aguilar ED, Barker LK, Canto MT, et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Surveillance for dental caries, dental sealants, tooth retention, edentulism, and enamel fluorosis—United States, 1988–1994 and 1999–2002. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2005;54(3):1–43 - PubMed
    1. Sheiham A. Oral health, general health and quality of life. Bull World Health Organ. 2005;83(9):644. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types