BackgroundCollaboration between primary care personnel and dental personnel to prevent early childhood caries has been established in several countries. The purpose of this study was, firstly, to describe health nurses’ experiences and attitudes regarding collaboration with dental personnel, and secondly, to identify characteristic of health nurses and health centres associated with the collaboration.MethodsHealth nurses working with children answered a questionnaire. In total, 163 of 296 health nurses (55 %) reported demographic information, referral routines, frequency of and reasons for referral of young children to dental personnel, contact with dental personnel and satisfaction with the collaboration. Data were analysed using multivariate logistic regression.ResultsThe majority of health nurses (83 %) were familiar with referral routines and 31 % reported referring children to dental personnel monthly or more often. The most frequent reasons for referral were clinical caries (52 %), dental discolouration (38 %) and dental trauma (34 %). Few health nurses (18 %) had contact with dental personnel monthly or more often. Two-thirds of health nurses (71 %) reported being satisfied with the collaboration with dental personnel. Results of multivariate analysis showed that health nurses were more likely to refer children when the proportion of immigrant children under care in the health centres was high than when proportion of immigrant children was low (OR 6.4, CI 2.7–14.9). Health nurses working in small health centres were more likely to be satisfied with the collaboration than health nurses working in large health centres (OR 3.2, CI 1.4–7.0). Health nurses 45 years or older were more likely to possess knowledge of referral routines than younger health nurses (OR 2.7, CI 1.1–6.4).ConclusionsThe results indicated that the majority of health nurses possessed knowledge of collaboration routines and were satisfied with the collaboration. The proportion of immigrant children under care in the health centres, the size of the health centres and the age of health nurses were factors influencing the collaboration between primary care personnel and dental personnel.

Health professions' recommendations regarding caries-preventive self-care for children were mainly similar, although variation existed both between and within professions. Collaboration between professions and awareness of the evidence base for preventive oral care may improve the consistency of information given by health professionals to the public.

The aim of this study was to follow attendance patterns longitudinally by exploring length of intervals between routine dental examinations in children at the ages of 5 and 12 years, and study associations between length of recall intervals and caries prevalence, controlled for gender, parent's background and parent's education. Material and methods:The study included 2960 children in one Norwegian county monitored from 5 to 12 years of age. Data were collected at clinical examinations, from dental records and by parental questionnaires. Length of recall intervals was dichotomized into short (shorter than 18 months) and long (18 months and longer). Data were analyzed and tested using Chi-square statistics, correlation coefficient and multivariate regression. The study was ethically approved. Results: Recall intervals were individualized and varied from 4 to 30 months. The most frequent used recall intervals were 12, 18, 20 and 24 months. A majority of children at both ages were given long recall intervals. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the probability of having short interval was higher in children having caries experience than in caries-free children at both 5 years (OR 12.6 CI 9.9-16.0) and 12 years (OR 2.7 CI 2.3-3.1).At 5 years of age, length of recall intervals was associated with parents' background (OR 1.8 CI 1.4-2.4) and parents' education (OR 1.3 CI 1.0-1.5). Conclusions: The results showed that routine intervals were individualized and extended, indicating that more resources were spent on children with the highest need of dental care, aiming at reducing health inequalities.

Purpose To explore the use of fissure sealing as a caries preventive method by describing characteristics of children who had received sealants and to study associations between sealing and caries prevalence at 12 years of age. Methods The study included 3075 children examined at 5 and 12 years of age. Data were collected by clinical examination and questionnaire to parents. The questionnaire provided information on child characteristics and oral health behaviour in children at 5 years of age. Data on sealing and caries prevalence were obtained from dental records. Bi- and multivariate logistic regressions were performed. The Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics approved the study (2.200.54 and 2013/1881). Results Of the children, 12% had received sealants on permanent teeth before 12 years of age. Children with dentin caries at 5 years of age (OR 2.0, CI 1.5–2.7) had a higher probability of having received sealants than children without caries. Having sealants (OR 2.8, CI 2.2–3.6), enamel caries (OR 1.5, CI 1.2–1.9), dentin caries (OR 2.9, CI 2.3–3.6) and using fluoride lozenges less than daily (OR 1.5, CI 1.3–1.8) at 5 years of age were associated with having dentin caries prevalence at 12 years of age. Conclusion Few children had received fissure sealing. Although sealing was used as a caries preventive method in children who had experienced caries in primary teeth, these children continued developing caries in their permanent teeth.

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