The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #35220

Stephen Silberman, DMD, DrPH¹, Nicholas Mosca, DDS¹, Neva Eklund, DMD¹, and Katharine Stilley, RDH, MS². (1) School of Dentistry, Department of Diagnostic Sciences, University of Mississippi, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, 601-984-6060, ssilberman@sod.umsmed.edu, (2) School of Health Related Professions, Department of Dental Hygiene, University of Mississippi, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216

This study measured 3 indicators: sealant use, treatment urgency and caries experience. Urgency of care was measured by whether the child had no needs, routine, or urgent needs. Caries experience was determined by presence of at least one carious lesion or dental restoration. A stratified cluster random sample was drawn from all 3rd grade children enrolled in Mississippi public schools (about 36,000). The final sample (n=5227) contained 74 elementary schools with proportional representation from each of the 9 public health districts. School size and location were considered in sampling. The sealant data indicated a significant difference (÷2=154.8;df=1;p<0.001) based on race with more Whites having teeth sealed (24.4% vs. 11.3) than African Americans. Dental sealant use differed among districts with the least use in the poorest district (Mississippi delta) and the most use in the district with the highest percentage of Whites (÷2=72.66;df=8;p=0.001). When sealant usage was compared to treatment urgency, it was found that 69.9% of children with sealants had no need for dental care while 16.9% who had no sealants had urgent need. For treatment urgency, differences were found for race (÷2=115.2;df=2;p=0.001). Fewer Whites (9.3% vs. 19.1%) had urgent need for dental care than African Americans and more Whites had no need (57.7% vs. 46.3%) for dental care than African Americans. Fewer females (13.5% vs. 16.3%) had urgent needs and more females (53.2% vs. 49.4%) had no need for dental care. The caries experience varied (÷2=14.5;db=1;p=0.001) by race, with African Americans having more caries experience (72.5% vs. 68%).

Learning Objectives:

• The student will be able to assess and apply the relationship among treatment urgency, caries experience and need for preventive and theapeutic services

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.