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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Susan A. Fisher-Owens, MD, MPH¹, Mah-J Soobader, PhD², Matthew D. Bramlett, PhD³, Stuart A. Gansky, MS, DrPH⁴, Jane A. Weintraub, DDS, MPH⁴, Larry J. Platt, MD⁵, and Paul Newacheck, DrPH⁵. (1) Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue Room AC01, Box 0374, San Francisco, CA 94143-0374, 415-353-2226, fisherowens@peds.ucsf.edu, (2) Stat-Works Inc, 800 Matthew Court, Suite 102, Braintree, MA 02184, (3) Division of Health Interview Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Road, Hyattsville, MD 20782, (4) Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St, Ste 495, San Francisco, CA 94143-1361, (5) Institute of Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St, Ste 265, Box 0936, San Francisco, CA 94143-0936

Background: Despite marked improvements over the past century, oral health in America is a significant problem: caries is the most common chronic disease of childhood. Much oral health research examines influences in the mouth alone or focuses on a limited number of factors. For broader understanding of children s dental issues, we draw from the experiences of population health and social epidemiology, which have moved toward multilevel, holistic approaches to analyze the complex and interactive causes of children's health problems. Methods: We review major population and oral health literature around both multi-level modeling and children's oral health and then detail our model. Specifically, we present a multilevel conceptual model of the influences of genetic and biologic factors, the social and physical environment, health behaviors, and dental and medical care on oral health outcomes. Results: We will show how this model can be applied to a large national dataset and can be augmented with additional contextual data. Conclusion: This work can inform the field regarding how best to approach children's oral health and multilevel modeling.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Enumerate the impact of oral disease on children
• Articulate the different impacts of various levels of influences on children's oral health

Keywords: Oral Health, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered