ArticleCanadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique2021
Small-area contextual effects on children's dental caries in Alberta: a multilevel analysis.
Article in Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Are Area-Level Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Dental Caries and Tooth Loss? A Systematic Review.Caries research · 2025Pooled it
- Exploratory analysis of regional factors influencing early childhood caries status in 5-year-old children: evidence from national oral health surveys of China, 2005-2015.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Fluoridation cessation and oral health equity: a 7-year post-cessation study of Grade 2 schoolchildren in Alberta, Canada.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2022Article
- Fluoridation cessation and children's dental caries: A 7-year follow-up evaluation of Grade 2 schoolchildren in Calgary and Edmonton, Canada.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe objective of this study was to examine the presence of small-area-level effects on children's dental caries in Alberta, Canada, where dental public health programming is targeted in nature, based on an area-level measure of socio-economic circumstances.
methodsThis cross-sectional study included data on tooth decay (from an intra-oral examination conducted by dental hygienists at school) and socio-demographic and behavioural information (from a parent questionnaire) from 5677 grade 1 and 2 schoolchildren attending schools in public or Catholic school systems in Calgary and Edmonton in 2013/2014. Area-level socio-economic circumstances were quantified using the Pampalon Material Deprivation Index derived from census data, applied to the dissemination area (DA) of the child's school. The outcome variable was presence (vs. absence) of tooth decay (cavitation). Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling with two levels: individual level (level 1) and school dissemination area (DA) (level 2).
resultsWe observed a small but statistically significant area-level effect on children's caries experience, above and beyond individual-level characteristics.
conclusionStudy findings are relevant to dental public health programming in Alberta and other jurisdictions that use targeted strategies. Multilevel interventions, including universal approaches, are necessary to reduce inequities in children's dental caries.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.