Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors among 3-5 year old school children using an oral health and nutrition intervention.

METHODS: Ninety 3-5 year old children, 43 in the control group and 47 in the intervention group, participated in the study. An age and developmental appropriate prop-based oral health and nutrition intervention program was used. Subjects in the intervention group received a pre-test, an 8-10 minute prop-supported intervention, followed by an immediate post-test. The same test was repeated two weeks later The control group received a pre-test and post-test two weeks later but no intervention. RESULTS: Intervention improved scores in the immediate post-test but these improvements were not sustained two weeks later The only positive relationship found for the entire group between pre-and two week post-test scores was for oral health knowledge. There were no significant findings when adjusted for race, intervention type or group. CONCLUSIONS: Changing oral health and nutrition knowledge, attitude and behavior may require intense and repetitive interventions to have a significant effect in this age cohort.

Integrating dental screening and fluoride varnish application into a pediatric residency outpatient program: clinical and financial implications.

Delivery of preventive oral health services (POHS) has been embraced by many pediatric andfamily medical practices in North Carolina (NC). The outcome of implementing a state-wide Medicaid-supported oral health prevention initiative, "Into the Mouth of Babes Varnish and Screening Program (IMB), in an academic medical residency setting is described Retrospective chart audit of encounterforms and collection of administrative records related to POHS provided by pediatric medical residents for Medicaid recipients less than 3 years of age at the University of North Carolina pediatric continuity care clinic over 31 months were examined A total of 1,081 visits and 655 patients were documented during the study period accountingfor 36.6% of all children aged 6-36 months seen in the clinic during the period of this study. Thirty-eight percentof the patients received one or more IMB follow-up visits. Twenty-nine (4.4%) children were reported to have one or more carious teeth and 94 children (14.1%) were referred to a dentist. The IMB program provides an oral screening, parent oral health counseling and application of fluoride varnish to the teeth at the medical appointment by non-dental personnel. Following a cost/revenue analysis it was concluded that a preventive oral health initiative in an academic setting provides an additional access to oral health preventative services for underserved children and contributes to the financial viability of the clinic.