ArticleJournal of public health dentistry2026
Teachers' Perceptions of Oral Health-Related Barriers to School Functioning in a Socioeconomically Vulnerable School Community.
Article in Journal of public health dentistry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesOral health problems may function as health-related barriers to school functioning by affecting children's concentration, attendance, and classroom participation, particularly in socioeconomically vulnerable settings. Teachers are strategically positioned to observe these situations and support school-based oral health promotion; however, evidence from vulnerable Latin American communities remains limited. This study examined teachers' oral health awareness, perceptions regarding oral health-related barriers to school functioning, classroom oral health promotion practices, and perceived support needs in a socioeconomically vulnerable school community in Costa Rica.
methodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool and primary school teachers from 13 public educational institutions in a socioeconomically vulnerable urban district of Costa Rica (N = 261). Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire assessing oral health awareness, perceived school functioning impacts, classroom oral health promotion practices, and support needs.
resultsTeachers reported high oral health awareness scores (mean score = 4.28 ± 0.61). Most participants perceived that oral health problems interfered with students' concentration (82.4%), and 82.0% reported observing situations in which oral health problems appeared to interfere with school functioning. Although 80.1% reported addressing oral health topics during the academic year, implementation was generally infrequent. Willingness to strengthen school-based oral health promotion activities was high (86.6%).
conclusionsTeachers frequently perceived oral health problems as relevant to students' school functioning; however, implementation of oral health promotion activities remained limited. Strengthening teacher-focused training, institutional support, and school-health collaboration may support more sustainable school-based oral health promotion strategies in vulnerable communities.
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.