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
. 2023 Oct 19;23(1):767.
doi: 10.1186/s12903-023-03458-1.

Factors perceived by health professionals to be barriers or facilitators to caries prevention in children: a systematic review

Guillemette Lienhart  1 , Masson Elsa  2 , Pierre Farge  3 , Anne-Marie Schott  3 , Beatrice Thivichon-Prince  4 , Marc Chanelière  3
Affiliations

Factors perceived by health professionals to be barriers or facilitators to caries prevention in children: a systematic review

Guillemette Lienhart et al. BMC Oral Health. .

Abstract

Background: Considered the most prevalent noncommunicable disease in childhood, dental caries is both an individual and a collective burden. While international guidelines highlight prevention as a major strategy for caries management in children, health professionals still struggle to implement prevention into their clinical practice. Further research is needed to understand the gap between the theoretical significance of dental prevention and its lack of implementation in the clinical setting. This systematic review aims to identify and classify factors perceived by health professionals to be barriers or facilitators to caries prevention in children.

Method: A systematic literature search was conducted in three electronic databases (Medline, Web of Science and Cairn). Two researchers independently screened titles, abstracts and texts. To be selected, studies had to focus on barriers or facilitators to caries prevention in children and include health professionals as study participants. Qualitative and quantitative studies were selected. The factors influencing caries prevention in children were sorted into 3 main categories (clinician-related factors, patient-related factors, and organizational-related factors) and then classified according to the 14 domains of the theoretical domains framework (TDF).

Results: A total of 1771 references were found by combining manual and database searches. Among them, 26 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which half were qualitative and half were quantitative studies. Dentists (n = 12), pediatricians (n = 11), nurses (n = 9), and physicians (n = 5) were the most frequently interviewed health professionals in our analysis. Barriers and facilitators to caries prevention in children were categorized into 12 TDF domains. The most frequently reported domains were Environmental Context and Resources, Knowledge and Professional Role and Identity.

Conclusion: This systematic review found that a wide range of factors influence caries prevention in children. Our analysis showed that barriers to pediatric oral health promotion affect all stages of the health care system. By highlighting the incompatibility between the health care system's organization and the implementation of caries prevention, this study aims to help researchers and policy-makers design new interventions to improve children's access to caries prevention.

Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42022304545.

Keywords: Attitude of health personnel; Barriers; Behavior change; Children; Dental caries; Facilitators; Health promotion; Primary care; Systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Data synthesis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. GBD 2017 Oral Disorders Collaborators. Bernabe E, Marcenes W, Hernandez CR, Bailey J, Abreu LG, et al. Global, regional, and national levels and trends in burden of oral conditions from 1990 to 2017: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease 2017 study. J Dent Res. 2020;99(4):362–73. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organisation. Sugars and dental caries. World Health Organization; 2017.
    1. Listl S, Galloway J, Mossey PA, Marcenes W. Global economic impact of dental diseases. J Dent Res. 2015;94(10):1355–1361. - PubMed
    1. Righolt AJ, Jevdjevic M, Marcenes W, Listl S. Global-, regional-, and country-level economic impacts of dental diseases in 2015. J Dent Res. 2018;97(5):501–507. - PubMed
    1. Quadri MFA, Jaafari FRM, Mathmi NAA, Huraysi NHF, Nayeem M, Jessani A, et al. Impact of the poor oral health status of children on their families: an analytical cross-sectional study. Children. 2021;8(7):586. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types