5891
document
Effectiveness of the school dental screening programme in stimulating dental attendance for children in need of treatment in Northern Ireland . UNLABELLED The school dental screening programme has been in existence from the beginning of the 20th century yet its value in encouraging attendance among children with a dental health need is not fully established . OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of school dental screening in promoting dental attendance among children with a treatment need and to examine the relative importance of screening , social class and other factors in dental attendance . METHODS Sixty-four participating schools were assigned to study and control groups using a stratified , blocked randomisation technique . The study group children received the standard school dental screening and the dental attendance of those with a positive screening result was assessed after 2 months by means of a questionnaire issued to the children 's parents . The control group children were not , at this stage , screened , yet their parents received the same questionnaire assessing dental attendance over the 2-month period . However , only questionnaires from control group children who had a positive result at a subsequent screening were retained for analysis . RESULTS A total of 2,321 children were screened , with 980 having a positive result . The mean dmft of those screening positive was 4.85 . In all , 664 completed questionnaires were returned , giving a response rate of 67.8 % . Dental attendance was reported among 45.5 % of the study group ( n=352 ) in the 2 months following screening . In the same period , 27.6 % of the control group ( n=312 ) claimed attendance . The effect was found to be significant among the high employed group ( P < 0.01 ) and the unemployed group ( P < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSION School dental screening was capable of stimulating dental attendance . The strong effect among the lowest socio-economic group shows that school dental screening may be used to decrease dental health inequalities .
5892
Intervention_Educational
school dental screening programme
5893
Intervention_Educational
school dental screening
5894
Intervention_Educational
standard school dental screening
5895
Intervention_Control
group children were not , at this stage , screened
5896
Outcome_Other
Effectiveness
5897
Outcome_Other
stimulating dental attendance
5898
Outcome_Other
dental attendance
5899
Outcome_Other
dental attendance
5900
Outcome_Other
dental attendance
5901
Outcome_Other
dental attendance
5902
Outcome_Other
Dental attendance
5903
Outcome_Other
dental attendance
5904
Outcome_Other
dental health inequalities
5905
Participant_Age
children
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Participant_Condition
dental health
5907
Participant_Age
children
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Participant_Sample-size
Sixty-four
5909
Participant_Sample-size
2,321 children
5910
Participant_Sample-size
980
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Participant_Sample-size
664