Perceptions and practices of oral health care professionals in preventing and managing childhood obesity

In this study, we aimed to explore the perceptions of oral health care professionals (OHCPs) on childhood overweight and obesity screening and management in oral health settings in the Greater Sydney region in New South Wales, Australia. OHCPs involved in the Healthy Smiles Healthy Kids (HSHK) birth cohort study were purposively selected for this nested qualitative study. A sample of 15 OHCPs completed the face-to-face interviews, and thematic analysis was undertaken to identify and analyse the contextual patterns and themes. Three major themes emerged: (1) obesity prevention and management in dental practice; (2) barriers and enablers to obesity prevention and management in dental settings; and (3) the role of oral health professionals in promoting healthy weight status. This study found that OHCPs are well-positioned and supportive in undertaking obesity screening and management in their routine clinical practice. However, their practices are limited due to barriers such as time constraints, limited knowledge, and limited referral pathways. Strategies including capacity building of OHCPs, development of appropriate training programs and resources, and identification of a clear specialist referral pathway are needed to address the current barriers. This study provides an insight into opportunities for the oral health workforce in promoting healthy weight status among children

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

Government and nongovernmental organizations need national and global estimates on the descriptive epidemiology of common oral conditions for policy planning and evaluation. The aim of this component of the Global Burden of Disease study was to produce estimates on prevalence, incidence, and years lived with disability for oral conditions from 1990 to 2017 by sex, age, and countries. In addition, this study reports the global socioeconomic pattern in burden of oral conditions by the standard World Bank classification of economies as well as the Global Burden of Disease Socio-demographic Index. The findings show that oral conditions remain a substantial population health challenge. Globally, there were 3.5 billion cases (95% uncertainty interval [95% UI], 3.2 to 3.7 billion) of oral conditions, of which 2.3 billion (95% UI, 2.1 to 2.5 billion) had untreated caries in permanent teeth, 796 million (95% UI, 671 to 930 million) had severe periodontitis, 532 million (95% UI, 443 to 622 million) had untreated caries in deciduous teeth, 267 million (95% UI, 235 to 300 million) had total tooth loss, and 139 million (95% UI, 133 to 146 million) had other oral conditions in 2017. Several patterns emerged when the World Bank’s classification of economies and the Socio-demographic Index were used as indicators of economic development. In general, more economically developed countries have the lowest burden of untreated dental caries and severe periodontitis and the highest burden of total tooth loss. The findings offer an opportunity for policy makers to identify successful oral health strategies and strengthen them; introduce and monitor different approaches where oral diseases are increasing; plan integration of oral health in the agenda for prevention of noncommunicable diseases; and estimate the cost of providing universal coverage for dental care

Obesity and dental caries in early childhood : a systematic review protocol

Objective: The objectives of this review are to examine whether overweight/obese children experience more dental caries compared with non-overweight/non-obese children, and to identify common risk factors associated with both conditions. Introduction: Systematic reviews have shown that any evidence on a link between overweight and/or obesity and dental caries remains inconclusive. This relationship has not been assessed for children under six years of age with primary dentition. Therefore, an updated systematic review of this topic is necessary as its findings will be important for young children, clinicians, researchers and policy makers. Inclusion criteria: Studies examining children under six years of age and with complete primary dentition at the time of dental caries assessment will be included. The exposure of interest is the overweight and/or obesity status of children under six years of age. The outcome is dental caries in children with complete primary dentition. There will be no restriction on setting, date or language. Methods: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PsycINFO, ProQuest Central, Scopus, CINAHL, and Google Scholar will be searched for eligible studies. The electronic database search will be supplemented by OpenGrey and Grey Literature Report databases, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and the International Association for Dental Research conference websites. Two reviewers will independently screen and select studies, assess methodological quality and extract data. Meta-analysis will be performed, if possible, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Summary of Findings presented

Researching the perceptions of Vietnamese migrant caregivers for an oral health literacy study in Australia

This case study focuses on gaining access to Vietnamese migrant caregivers in South Western Sydney, Australia, for an oral health literacy study. We chose to approach this topic from the phenomenological framework which provided us with an opportunity to examine and understand non-English-speaking parents'/caregivers' perceptions related to existing oral health promotion materials. The case study starts by giving a brief overview of the research project and the complexities of carrying out a research project with migrant populations, followed by detailed description of the research process, access to participants, stakeholder involvement, building trust with participants, and data collection methods. We were able to obtain in-depth understanding using multiple data collection methods such as participant observation and indepth interviews. By applying maximum variation technique in a stratified purposive sampling, we managed to capture a comprehensive sample of Vietnamese migrant caregivers in Greater Western Sydney. Therefore, we therefore recommend employing multiple qualitative techniques to conduct qualitative research with participants from non-Englishspeaking backgrounds

A content analysis of Australian television advertising : focus on child and adolescent oral health

BACKGROUND: Children’s preferences for cariogenic foods and/or drinks has been proven to be associated with exposure to advertisements. This study aimed to assess and compare the proportion of cariogenic food and /or drink advertisements aired on three metropolitan Sydney commercial television channels at different broadcast times during school term and school holidays. METHODS: Three Sydney free-to-air television channels (Channels Seven, Nine, and Ten) were recorded between June 2016 and January 2017. Two weekdays and one weekend day were recorded for a week for each channel during the school term and school holidays, respectively. All channels were recorded from 0630 h until 2300 h. Food and/or drink advertisements were categorised according to the time they were aired and their sugar and acid content. For each channel, school holiday data was compared with school term data. Pearson chi-squared testing was used to determine the difference in advertisements rates across TV channels and broadcast times including school holidays and school term. Results: The proportion of food and/or drink advertisements for all networks was less than 10% of all advertisements. Overall, Channel Ten had the most food and/or drink advertisements (39.74%) and Channel Seven had the lowest (28.60%). Channel Ten aired the largest proportion of food and/or drink advertisements (27.18%) during school term Channel Nine aired the highest number of food and/or drink adverts (15.50%) during school holidays. There were more food and/or drink advertisements during children’s viewing hours compared to overlap, adult, and other viewing periods respectively, with Channel Ten airing the highest advertisements (15.72%) and Channel Seven airing the least (11.35%) food and/or drink advertisements. For all analyses, Pearson chi-square tests had a p-value < 0.001. CONCLUSION: Although the overall proportion of food and/or drink advertisements aired on Sydney television is low, the advertisements containing high sugar and /or acid were broadcasted more during children’s viewing times than other times and during school term compared to school holidays

The prevalence and academic impact of dysmenorrhea in 21,573 young women : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Dysmenorrhea (period pain) and associated symptoms are very common in young women <25 years. This time corresponds with a significant stage in adolescents and young women's academic lives at both school and in higher education. Dysmenorrhea may cause absenteeism from class or result in reduced classroom concentration and performance. Owing to cultural and economic differences, any impact may vary by country. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in young women and explores any impact it has on their academic performance and other school-related activities. Materials and Methods: A search in Medline, PsychINFO, EMBASE, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature was carried out in June 2018. Results: Thirty-eight studies including 21,573 young women were eligible and included in the meta-analysis. Twenty-three studies were from low-, lower middle-, or upper middle-income countries, and 15 studies were from high-income countries. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was high 71.1% (N = 37, n = 20,813, 95% confidence interval [CI] 66.6–75.2) irrespective of the economic status of the country. Rates of dysmenorrhea were similar between students at school (N = 24, 72.5%, 95% CI 67.5–77.0) and at university (N = 7, 74.9%, 95% CI 62.9–84.0). Academic impact was significant, with 20.1% reporting absence from school or university due to dysmenorrhea (N = 19, n = 11,226, 95% CI 14.9–26.7) and 40.9% reporting classroom performance or concentration being negatively affected (N = 10, n = 5126, 95% CI 28.3–54.9). Conclusions: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was high, irrespective of country, with dysmenorrhea having a significant negative impact on academic performance both at school and during higher education