Successful Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Populations for Oral Health Clinical Trials

Tooth decay in children remains the single most common chronic disease, resulting in unnecessary missed school days, nutritional problems, pain and infection. If left untreated, it can lead to nutritional problems, tooth loss, sleep deprivation, attention deficit, failure to thrive, slower social development and reduced physical activity. According to a surveys of several states, a higher proportion of California's elementary school children experience decay than children in many other states. Of 25 states conducting similar surveys, only Arkansas had a higher prevalence. The results of the California Smile Survey, document that 53% of all kindergarteners in the State and 71% of all third graders had experienced decay. More than 28% of all children had untreated decay—19% had rampant decay (affecting seven or more teeth) and 4% were in need of urgent care due to pain and infection

Because dental diseases aren't self-limiting, minor childhood oral health problems become more complex and expensive to treat during adolescence and adulthood. Today, however, there are low-cost, evidence-based strategies that can almost completely prevent the burden of dental decay. New evidence shows that starting prevention early (during pregnancy and in the first years of life) and providing early dental treatment can yield cost savings in the treatment of diabetes, coronary artery disease and stroke, and in the prevention of preterm and low birth weight infants. As evidence connecting oral health to overall health continues to accumulate, the cost-effectiveness and importance of dental disease prevention management and early intervention become all the more consequential.