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
. 2025 Sep;85(3):309-321.
doi: 10.1111/jphd.12678. Epub 2025 Jun 17.

Barriers and Facilitators to Providing Preventive Dental Care for Young Children in Dental Settings

Sarah L Goff  1 , Charlotte F Gilson  1 , Marisa DaCosta  1 , Erin DeCou  1 , Ashley M Kranz  2
Affiliations

Barriers and Facilitators to Providing Preventive Dental Care for Young Children in Dental Settings

Sarah L Goff et al. J Public Health Dent. 2025 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: This qualitative study aimed to understand dental professionals' perspectives and practices regarding preventive dental care for very young children and preventive oral health services (POHS) provided outside of dental practices.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted on Zoom with a purposive sample of dental professionals in Massachusetts between December 12, 2022, and June 15, 2023, until theoretical saturation was reached. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was the study's conceptual framework. Applying Charmaz's approach to grounded theory, transcripts were coded line-by-line in an iterative process, using memos and axial coding to identify themes.

Results: Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with general dentists (n = 18), pediatric dentists (n = 5), registered dental hygienists (n = 3), a dental assistant (n = 1), and a dental administrator (n = 1). Major themes included: (1) facilitators and barriers to providing preventive dental care for children under 3 years old; (2) perceptions of POHS delivery outside of dental practices and care coordination; (3) public policies potentially impacting the provision of preventive dental care for young children; and (4) potential levers for change to improve receipt of recommended preventive dental services. Sub-themes included training, concerns about the quality of care in non-dental sites, public insurance barriers, and increasing joint dental-medical curriculum programs.

Conclusions: Potentially modifiable barriers were identified at provider, practice, and policy levels. Further research is needed regarding the financial impacts of public insurance reimbursement rates, the potential role of bias in access to preventive dental services, and the effects of systematic accountability for performance on quality and equity measures related to preventive dental care.

Keywords: barriers; child health; oral health; pediatric; preventive dental care; preventive dentistry; preventive oral health services; young children.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: No author reports a conflict of interest.

References

    1. Fleming E, Afful J. Prevalence of total and untreated dental caries among youth: United States, 2015–2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 307 Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Published online 2018. - PubMed
    1. QuickStats: Prevalence of Untreated Dental Cariesin Permanent Teeth Among Children and Adolescents Aged 6–19 Years, by Age Group — National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, United States, 2011–2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017;66. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6601a11 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges: Executive Summary. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (US); 2021. Accessed January 21, 2022. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK576536/ - PubMed
    1. Fraihat N, Madae’en S, Bencze Z, Herczeg A, Varga O. Clinical Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Oral-Health Promotion in Dental Caries Prevention among Children: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(15):2668. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16152668 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Krol DM, Whelan K, THE SECTION ON ORAL HEALTH. Maintaining and Improving the Oral Health of Young Children. Pediatrics. 2022;151(1):e2022060417. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-060417 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources