Oral Health Services Research Centre - Journal Articles
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Item Changing oral health trajectories: a 10-year cross-sectional comparison of 2 domiciliary dental care patient groups in nursing homes(Elsevier Inc., 2025) Janssens, Lynn E.R.; Petrovic, Mirko; Allen, P. Finbarr; Colman, Roos; Janssens, Barbara E.Objectives Since 2010, Gerodent has been a comprehensive oral health care program including biannual domiciliary dental care in nursing homes in Flanders, Belgium. Previous research revealed poor oral health among nursing home residents attending the mobile clinic. The objective of this study was to evaluate potential changes in the oral health needs of patients receiving domiciliary dental care, thus providing insights for future cohorts. Design This study compares the oral health status and treatment needs of 2 cross-sectional samples. Setting and Participants First-time patients attending the mobile dental clinic in nursing homes, collected a decade apart. Methods Generalized estimating equations were used to compare both samples [sample 1 (S1): 2010–2012: n = 1226; sample 2 (S2): 2021–2023: n = 775]. Results were adjusted for age, sex, increased reimbursement for health care costs, number of medications and care dependency. Differences in oral health outcomes were decomposed in a component attributed to the explanatory variables and an unexplained component using the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition analysis. Results There were statistically significant lower edentulism rates in S2 (28%) than S1 [42%; odds ratio (OR), 1.82; 95% CI, 1.34–2.47]. Among dentate patients, S2 had a significantly lower caries prevalence (S1: 70% vs S2: 53%; OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.44–0.69) and a significantly higher mean of filled teeth (S1: 1.5 vs S2: 2.8; rate ratio, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.58–2.09). In the dentate sample, 77% of S1 and 54% of S2 residents required extractions and/or restorations (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.53–0.98). The decomposition analysis showed that the change in explanatory variables attributed little to the shift in dental status. The explained component accounted for only 13.5% of the total risk difference in edentulism (bias-corrected and accelerated 95% CI, −0.6% to 30.6%). Conclusion and Implications From 2021 to 2023, more dentate care home residents consulted Gerodent with more natural teeth per person, showing lower levels of untreated disease, maintaining dental team treatment demands comparable with 2010–2012. These findings underscore the continued urgency for structured and accessible dental service provision for nursing home residents.Item Barriers and facilitators for prevention in Danish dental care(Taylor & Francis Group, 2019-03-25) Rosing, K.; Leggett, H.; Csikar, J.; Vinall-Collier, K.; Christensen, L. B.; Whelton, Helen; Douglas, G. V. A.; Horizon 2020ABSTRACT: Objective: To explore barriers and facilitators to oral disease prevention in Danish dental care from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Methods: Eleven semi-structured focus groups and interviews about Danish oral healthcare were conducted with 27 stakeholders (general public, dental teams, dental policy makers) in Copenhagen. Transcripts were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis independently by KR and HL, supervised by JC and KVC. Results: Seven broad themes were identified, including both barriers and facilitators: Knowledge and attitudes, Education and training, Regulation, Incentivization, Multidisciplinary approach, Access to care and the Dental professional-patient relationship. Whilst all themes were relevant to each group of stakeholders, the salient driver within each theme was different for each group. Conclusions: Stakeholder perspectives on the Danish Oral health care system suggest the following are important features for a preventively focused system: (a) Involving all stakeholders in oral healthcare planning. (b) Securing sufficient and ongoing briefing regarding disease prevention for all stakeholders. (c) Regulatory support and creation of incentives to promote and facilitate implementation of disease prevention. (d) Appropriate prevention for disadvantaged groups within society which may be possible to a higher degree by means of multidisciplinary collaboration. (e) Personal relations between the patient and the professional based on mutual trust.Item Improving oral healthcare using academic detailing – design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies(Taylor & Francis Group, 2019-03-21) Baâdoudi, F.; Duijster, D.; Maskrey, N.; Ali, F. M.; Listl, S.; Whelton, Helen; van der Heijden, G. J. M. G.; Horizon 2020Background: Academic detailing (AD) is a defined form of educational outreach that can be deployed to intrinsically motivate practitioners towards improving quality of care. This paper describes the design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies. This proof of concept study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and usefulness of AD, reinforced with feedback information to promote prevention-oriented, patient-centred and evidence-based oral healthcare delivery by general dental practitioners (GDPs). Methods: Six groups of GDPs will be recruited; two groups of six to eight GDPs in each of three countries – the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. GDPs will meet for four Academic Detailing Group (ADG) meetings for open discussions using comparative feedback data to stimulate debate about their dental practice performance and care delivery. Group meetings will be moderated using the AD methodology. Qualitative data will be collected through focus group interviews, an online discussion forum, field notes and debriefs of ADG meetings and analysed by conventional content analysis using MaxQDA software. Discussion: The results of the study will provide novel information on the feasibility, perceived acceptability and usefulness of AD and feedback data for GDPs to improve oral healthcare delivery.Item The effect of mobile personalised texting versus non-personalised texting on the caries risk of underprivileged adults: a randomised control trial(BioMed Central, 2019-03-12) Nishi, Makiko; Kelleher, Virginia; Cronin, Michael; Allen, Finbarr; Ivoclar Vivadent AG; UnileverIn the Republic of Ireland (RoI), fluoridation has been effective and efficient for caries prevention at population level, regardless of income status; however, at individual level it still has limitations. This study aimed to compare personalised versus non-personalised text messaging on ‘chance of avoiding new cavities’ with the Cariogram, a computer-based caries risk assessment (CRA) model, in an economically disadvantaged adult population in the RoI. Methods: The intervention was via a CRA summary letter plus 24 weekly personalised mobile-phone short text messages (text messages) based on the individual’s CRA, compared with a non-personalised approach via a non-personalised letter and a predetermined, fixed set of 24 weekly text messages. The study was designed as a two-arm parallel-group, single-blinded (assessor), randomised controlled study in County Cork, RoI. The primary outcome was a comparison of ‘chance of avoiding new cavities’ calculated by the Cariogram with clinical examination, interview, CRT® (Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein) and three-day food diary between the two groups at follow-up. We combined stratified randomisation with blocked randomisation for 171 participants who completed baseline. Of them, 111 completed follow-up and were analysed (56 and 55 from the personalised and non-personalised groups, respectively). Due to protocol violations, both intent-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol analyses were conducted. Results: The ITT analysis did not show a personalised intervention effect on ‘chance of avoiding new cavities’. Of the secondary outcome measures, only the stimulated saliva flow factor showed a personalised intervention effect, p = 0.036, OR = 0.3 (95% CI = 0.1, 0.9). The per-protocol analysis with 21 personalised and 33 non-personalised participants within two-message deviations showed no significant effect on ‘chance of avoiding new cavities’. Conclusions: The null hypothesis in regard to the primary outcome for both ITT and per-protocol analyses was not rejected; however, as the minimal clinically important difference was included in the 95% CI for the per-protocol analysis, replication studies will be worth conducting to explore the potential of mobile devices for individual caries risk reduction. Trial registration: University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000027253) on 10 May 2017.Item Needs-based planning for the oral health workforce - development and application of a simulation model(BioMed Central Ltd, 2019-07-15) Ahern, Susan; Woods, Noel; Kalmus, Olivier; Birch, Stephen; Listl, Stefan; Horizon 2020Background: The World Health Organization’s global strategy on human resources for health includes an objective to align investment in human resources for health with the current and future needs of the population. Although oral health is a key indicator of overall health and wellbeing, and oral diseases are the most common noncommunicable diseases affecting half the world’s population, oral health workforce planning efforts have been limited to simplistic target dentist-population or constant services-population ratios which do not account for levels of and changes in population need. Against this backdrop, our aim was to develop and operationalise an oral health needs-based workforce planning simulation tool. Methods: Using a conceptual framework put forward in the literature, we aimed to build the model in Microsoft Excel and apply it in a hypothetical context to demonstrate its operability. The model incorporates a provider supply component and a provider requirement component, enabling a comparison of the current and future supply of and requirement for oral health workers. Publicly available data, including the Special Eurobarometer 330 Oral Health Survey, were used to populate the model. Assumptions were made where data were not publicly available and key assumptions were tested in scenario analyses. Results: We have systematically developed a needs-based workforce planning model for the oral health workforce and applied the model in a hypothetical context over a 30-year time span. In the 2017 baseline scenario, the model produced a full-time equivalent (FTE) provider requirement figure of 899 dentists compared with an FTE provider supply figure of 1985. In the scenario analyses, the FTE provider requirement figure ranged from 1123 to 1629 illustrating the extent of the impact of changing parameter values. Conclusions: In response to policy makers’ recognition of the pressing need to better plan human resources for health and the scarcity of work in this area for dentistry, we have demonstrated the feasibility of producing a workable, practical and useful needs-based workforce planning simulation tool for the oral health workforce. In doing so, we have highlighted the challenges faced in accessing timely and relevant data needed to populate such models and ensure the reliability of model outputs.