ArticleBMJ open quality2025
Implementing the Child Oral Health Initiative (COHI): improving access to preventive dental care to achieve Saudi Vision 2030 healthcare goals.
Article in BMJ open quality, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Oral health status and care among hospitalised children: a prospective cohort study comparing admission and discharge.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Impact of Health System Structures on Caries Prevalence Among Schoolchildren in Germany and Saudi Arabia.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Knowledge-to-practice gap in oral microbiome counseling: a mixed-methods study among dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia.BMC medical education · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDental caries is one of the most important health concerns in Saudi Arabia. It poses a substantial burden considering the clinical outcomes and treatment costs. Oral health is an integral part of general health, and primary healthcare providers may contribute to the primary prevention of caries by initiating early referrals, dental screening and early diagnosis of caries with regular medical visits.
objectivesThis project aimed to integrate the Child Oral Health Initiative (COHI) into regular paediatric healthcare services to effectively promote oral health and improve access to preventive dental care services. However, referrals to the dental department were primarily paper-based targeting dental clearance, emergencies and treatments. This referral system impaired the accessibility and manageability of medical records, necessitating the need for a traceable robust referral system to successfully screen children.
methodsThe first phase of the project was to develop an electronic referral system for the COHI (ECOHI-referrals) to improve communication between the COHI dental team and other hospital teams, increase dental preventive screening rates and to track referrals. Four Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were used to initiate and track the new referral system and improve the screening rate of referred children.
resultsAfter implementation, the number of ECOHI-referrals for caries prevention in the paediatric ward increased from 0 to 351 during the project period. The dental team received 351 ECOHI-referrals out of 420 (83.5%) eligible children in the paediatric ward. Of the referred 351 children, 317 (90.3%) underwent dental screening. Of the screened children, 263 (82.9%) established an ongoing dental home, and 98 (30.9%) children received fluoride applications.
conclusionQuality improvement methods facilitated the successful integration of COHI into hospital inpatient settings, increasing dental prevention visits to the paediatric ward, improving tracking of e-referrals, establishing dental homes for children and enhancing communication between teams.
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.