ArticleCommunity dentistry and oral epidemiology2019
Dental caries experience in children of a remote Australian Indigenous community following passive and active preventive interventions.
Article in Community dentistry and oral epidemiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Dental caries experience in Indigenous children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing worldwide disparities and time trends (1968-2024).Clinical oral investigations · 2026Pooled it
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dental Program Evaluations: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Cost-Utility Analysis of Treatments for Early Childhood Caries in Remote Aboriginal Communities.JDR clinical and translational research · 2026Article
- The impact of community water fluoridation cessation on health equity and service utilization: a global scoping review.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Effects of early preventive dental visits and its associations with dental caries experience: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2022Article
- Biocultural Drivers of Salivary Microbiota in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children.Frontiers in oral health · 2021Article
- Response of Salivary Microbiota to Caries Preventive Treatment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children.Journal of oral microbiology · 2020Article
- Surface-Specific Caries Preventive Effect of an Intervention Comprising Fissure Sealant, Povidone-Iodine and Fluoride Varnish in a Remote Indigenous Community in Australia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Demonstration of high value care to improve oral health of a remote Indigenous community in Australia.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2020Article
- Dental caries experience in children of a remote Australian Indigenous community following passive and active preventive interventions.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo report on changes in dental caries experience in children of a remote Indigenous community following 6 years of passive preventive intervention (PPI) and 2 years of active preventive intervention (API).
methodsFive consecutive cross-sectional surveys were conducted on 4- to 15-year-old school going children between 2004 and 2017 following phases of Community Water Fluoridation (CWF), post-cessation of CWF and API. Following treatment of any cavities present, API included selective placement of fissure sealants (FS) and an annual application of povidone-iodine (PI) and fluoride varnish (FV). The World Health Organization's (WHO) "Oral Health Surveys - Basic Methods (4th Edition)" methodology was used in the first two and the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS-II) in the latter three surveys. ICDAS-II codes of 3-6, representing advanced caries, were combined to allow comparison to the decayed component of the DMF caries index.
resultsAge-weighted mean dmft decreased by 37.7% in the deciduous (DD) and DMFT by 35% in the permanent (PD) dentitions between the pre- and post-CWF surveys, followed by increases of 25% and 7.7%, respectively, between the 1-year and 4-year post-CWF surveys. After 2 years of API, mean dmft decreased by 14.3% and DMFT by 7.1%. Untreated dental caries however remained a concern in the DD and PD during both phases of PPI and of API. The decline in caries experience for both dentitions following 2 years of API exceeded that for the 6-year period of PPI.
conclusionsThe annual reductions in caries experience of 7.2% (DD) and 8% (PD) during the phase of API exceeded annual decreases of 4.7% (DD) and 4.6% (PD) during the phase of PPI. Due to remoteness, cost and logistics in ensuring long-term viability of API programmes, CWF remains necessary in this type of community.
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