bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS AND COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE APPROACHES: A NATIONAL SURVEY
Authors: Caldwell Karen L. , Winek Jon L. , Becvar Dorothy S.
Published: May 2007

Respondents to a mail survey of a random sample (N = 424) of Clinical Members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy provided information about their contexts of practice, use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and relationships with CAM providers. Consistent with both national trends and the experience of psychologists as reported in a similar survey, the results of this survey suggest that marriage and family therapists have been affected significantly by and have a growing awareness of CAM practices. Limitations of the study and implications for the field are discussed.
TALKING ABOUT VIOLENCE: A MICROANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE PROCESSES IN A FAMILY THERAPY SESSION
Authors: Rober Peter , von Eesbeek Dominiek , Elliot Robert
Published: May 2007

In this article, we look at the development in family therapy of narratives about domestic violence. We report on microanalyses of a family therapy session, using narrative research methods, including some conversation analytic tools. The main questions posed in this investigation were: How does storytelling of a highly charged and delicate topic like domestic violence develop in the session?; how do the different actors in the therapy room contribute to telling such stories?; how do actors try to put forward domestic violence as a conversational topic? and how do different actors react to these attempts? Our research illustrates how the recounting of stories of violence seems to go hand in hand with modes of interaction that discourage the telling of these stories. In the back‐and‐forth process between voices of hesitation and voices of reassurance, the participants weigh the level of safety in the session. In as far as the voices of hesitation can be reassured of the safety, it becomes gradually possible to talk about delicate, problematic experiences, such as violence in the family.
THREE PERSPECTIVES ON CLIENTs' EXPERIENCES OF THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE: A DISCOVERY‐ORIENTED INVESTIGATION
Authors: Beck Michael , Friedlander Myrna L. , Escudero Valentín
Published: May 2007

To deepen our understanding of the therapeutic alliance in conjoint treatment, we interviewed clients in four families about their individual, private experience of the alliance after an early session. These qualitative data were triangulated with family members' scores on Pinsof's Family Therapy Alliance Scale‐Revised and observational ratings of their behavior on the System for Observing Family Therapy Alliances. This discovery‐oriented investigation focused on three interrelated aspects of the alliance: the family's shared sense of purpose about the needs, goals, and value of therapy (i.e., within‐system alliance), split alliances with the therapist, and felt sense of safety within the therapeutic context. Results were highly consistent across the three perspectives and congruent with idiographic, therapist‐rated outcomes.
TRAINING EXPERIENCES OF INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL STUDENTS IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY
Authors: Mittal Mona , Wieling Elizabeth
Published: May 2007

Recognizing mental health needs of diverse populations, emphasizing cultural diversity, and recruiting ethnic minority students are important foci of current of marriage and family therapy training programs. However, the profession has made little progress in identifying the needs and experiences of its international students and practitioners. This research examines the experiences of doctoral‐level international students across the areas of theory, clinical training, supervision, practice, and research. A qualitative methodological approach was used to explore the research questions. Thirteen in‐depth interviews were conducted. Findings revealed that most respondents experienced some adjustment problems, want more academic and career support, and need increased recognition for their cultural differences. Recommendations for training international students are included.
INTEGRATING GENDER ON MULTIPLE LEVELS: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR TEACHING GENDER ISSUES IN FAMILY THERAPY
Authors: Williams Lee , McBain Heidi
Published: May 2007

As the field of family therapy has evolved, there has been growing recognition as to the importance of gender in family therapy. To prepare the next generation of family therapists adequately, it is important that they recognize the many and complex ways in which gender permeates their work. In this article we present an integrative model to help educators teach family therapists about gender issues. The model examines how gender influences clinical work on multiple levels, including contextual levels such as society and the marriage and family therapy field. The model also acknowledges how gender can influence individuals, including clients, therapists, and supervisors. Finally, the model attempts to capture the complexity of how gender can impact the relational dynamics between two or more individuals.
DENTAL MANPOWER AND EDUCATION IN 1966
Authors: Dunning James M. , Fishman Sherwin R. , Mecklenburg Robert E.
Published: May 2007

Report of the Committee on Dental Manpower and Education presented in Dallas, Texas, to the American Association of Public Health Dentists, November 12,1966. This comprehensive report is sufficiently provocative for all to read.
DENTAL STATUS OF MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN. II. A SURVEY OF THE PREVALENCE OF CERTAIN DENTAL CONDITIONS IN MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN OF GEORGIA*
Authors: Butts John E.
Published: May 2007

A continuation of the study reported in the Summer Issue (1967) of this Journal.
A PRIVATE GROUP PRACTICE UTILIZING CAPITATION PREPAYMENT
Authors: Genet Philip E.
Published: May 2007

A dental student looks at the group‐practice of dentistry combined with plans for prepayment.
THE SYSTEMS‐APPROACH TO A COMMUNITY DENTAL CLINIC*
Authors: Howard Joseph H.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Howard presents in this review a philosophical appraisal of the systems‐approach to the administration of a community's public dental clinic.
QUALITY OF CARE IN DENTAL PRACTICE; THE APPROACH OF THE INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE*
Authors: Abramowitz Joseph , Mecklenburg Robert E.
Published: May 2007

For any dentist interested in review by peers for maintaining the quality of services, reading of this paper is urged.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROGRAM FOR UTILIZING AUXILIARIES; THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE*
Authors: Abramowitz Joseph
Published: May 2007

This paper by Dr. Abramowitz and the paper “Quality of Care in Dental Practice,” found in the Spring Issue, should be read together by those interested in delegation of more tasks to a dental therapist and maintaining the quality of her dental treatment.
PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE CURRICULA FOR DENTAL HYGIENISTS
Authors: Jupiter Francine K.
Published: May 2007

The writer reports what she has learned about dental public health in the curricula of 86 schools of dental hygiene and presents the recommendations that came out of her study.
AUDIT OF QUALITY OF DENTAL CARE; A PILOT‐STUDY*
Authors: Friedman Jay W. , Schoen Max H.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Friedman, with the cooperation of Dr. Schoen, has engaged in an intriguing study of the possibility for evaluating the quality of dental treatment through an examination of patients’records and radiographs.
CLINICAL TRIALS OF PREVENTIVES FOR DENTAL CARIES*
Authors: Horowitz Herschel S.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Horowitz presents in detail the methods of examining for carious lesions in those subjects studied for the effect of agents used in prevention. These methods are enforced for examiners by the Staff of the Community Programs Section of the National Institute of Dental Research.
IMPROVEMENT IN ORAL HYGIENE AS A FUNCTION OF APPLIED PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION
Authors: Stacey Dennis C. , Abbott David M. , Jordan Richard D.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Stacey has planned and reported a novel investigation of technics for motivating improved oral hygiene in children.
THE ROLE OF DENTISTRY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH CENTER*
Authors: Jong Anthony , Gluck George
Published: May 2007

This paper presents an interesting discussion of the contributions made by dentistry in today's health center.
DENTAL INJURIES IN SEATTLE'S PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN; SCHOOL YEAR 1969‐70
Authors: Carter Ann P. , Zoller Gregg , Harlin Vivian K. , Johnson Carl J.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Carter and her group provide some of the data needed by Delta Dental Plans on the extent of injuries sustained by the teeth of school children.
PARENTS' SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION WITH THEIR CHILDREN'S DENTIST*
Authors: Jenny Joanna , Frazier P. Jean , Bagramian Robert A. , Proshek John M.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Samuels and her group present some interesting reactios of parents, with high and low socio‐economic levels, in regard to the expression of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the dentists who treat their children.
APPLYING THE TECHNICS OF COST‐EFFECTIVENESS TO THE DELIVERY OF DENTAL SERVICES*
Authors: Boggs Donald C.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Boggs, after a search of the literature and a report of the experience of the Indian Health Service with analyses of cost‐effectiveness, has submitted his conclusion about the usefulness of such analyses.
THE PRICE OF DENTAL CARE
Authors: Barish Nathaniel H. , Barish Anna M.
Published: May 2007

By exploring the somewhat uncharted aspects of the cost of dental care, based on the data now available, Barish and Barish have produced an interesting prediction of what costs might be with trained auxiliaries for readers of the Summer Issue of the Journal.
DEPARTMENTS OF COMMUNITY DENTISTRY AS VIEWED BY TEACHERS OF CLINICAL PRACTICE, BASIC SCIENCE, AND COMMUNITY DENTISTRY
Authors: Jenny Joanna , Frazier P. Jean
Published: May 2007

Any public health dentist, interested in the product of today's departments of community dentistry in the dental schools of the United States, should get excited about this report from the University of Minnesota.
SATISFACTION OF THE PATIENT AND THE PROVIDER; EVALUATION BY QUESTIONNAIRE*
Authors: Koslowsky Meni , Bailit Howard , Valluzzo Paula
Published: May 2007

From Connecticut comes an interesting development of tools for measuring the satisfaction of patients with the dental care they receive and the satisfaction of the dentists in the care that they provide.
QUALITY OF INFORMATION IN MASS MEDIA: A BARRIER TO THE DENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC*
Authors: Frazier P. Jean , Jenny Joanna , Ostman Ron , Frenick Charles
Published: May 2007

Jean Frazier has completed an interesting and informative examination of the roadblocks to good oral health practice by patients that are imposed by the mass media of this country.
THE ORAL ASPECTS OF MONGOLISM*
Authors: Tannenbaum Kenneth A.
Published: May 2007

Dr. Tannenbaum has examined a large number of oral findings reported on mongoloid patients and now attempts to sift out what is fact.
A Symposium on the New Fight for Fluorides: Part I: The Opposition to Fluoride Programs: Report of a Survey
Authors: Watson M. Lisa
Published: May 2007

State dental directors were surveyed in spring 1984 regarding fluoridation and fluoride programs. Forty‐four states reported existing fluoride mouth‐rinse programs in schools; 22, fluoride tablets in schools. About 90 percent of directors felt that support for fluoride programs by state departments of health and constituent dental societies either had remained the same or increased over the previous five years. Approximately half felt the antifluoridation movement to be as strong as five years earlier. About one‐third indicated a shift in focus by water fluoridation opponents to include other fluoride systems. Most felt this shift occurred during 1981–82. Information was reported on 255 individual challenges to fluoride programs. Results of this survey indicate that expenditure of considerable resources and effort continues to be necessary to ensure the longevity of public fluoride systems.
A Symposium on the New Fight for Fluorides: Part II: Priorities to Preserve Fluoride Uses: Rationales and Strategies
Authors: Frazier P. Jean
Published: May 2007

Well‐planned, new initiatives are required to preserve fluoride uses, especially water fluoridation. Discussed are barriers to fluoride promotion, evidence about public and health‐care providers' knowledge and opinions about fluoride use and decision making, implications of sources of public information on fluorides, consequences to professionals and the public of being misinformed about fluorides, and four general strategies for promoting fluorides under varying conditions. Educational and political initiatives must be appropriate to state needs and conditions. Four broad categories of actions include: 1) diagnosis and planning for education/promotion; 2) public and professional education under both noncontroversial and controversial conditions, 3) political persuasion where required, and 4) changing the context of fluoridation decision making to prevent public referenda on public health measures.
Applying an Evaluation Model to a Dental Public Health Program
Authors: Scheetz James P. , Gholston Lamont R.
Published: May 2007

The applicability of an evaluation model applied to an urban dental public health program was assessed. The model required the specification of objectives and focuses on the accomplishment of these objectives and the associated costs. This model is primarily a goal model as contrasted with a system model; thus, the focus was on goal accomplishment. The model was simple to use and provided detailed evaluation information for use by administrators.
A Symposium on Building a Coalition To Improve the Public's Oral Health: The Public's Oral Health and the Dental Research Community—Participant or Observer?
Authors: Newbrun Ernest
Published: May 2007

Dental researchers may sometimes find themselves called upon to enter the public arena to promote or defend measures to improve the public's oral health. It is important, therefore, to keep up‐to‐date information at hand to supply to news media, public officials, and others, and to be aware of the opportunities and the pitfalls involved in communicating with the public.
A Symposium on Building a Coalition To Improve the Public's Oral Health: Dental Hygiene's New Initiative—How Can We Work Together?
Authors: Westphal Cheryl
Published: May 2007

This presentation speaks to many issues upon which the American Dental Hygienists' Association and the American Public Health Association agree. The boundaries are limitless for ADHA and APHA to work together to increase access to preventive care and to establish the dental hygienist as the provider to preventive dental care. Shaping the Nation's Health Agenda through coalition building is a way to the future for total body wellness and optimum oral health.
Methodological Considerations in a Dental Epidemiologic Survey of an Elderly Population*
Authors: Hunt Ronald J. , Beck James D.
Published: May 2007

The proportion of the US population that is age 65 or over is increasing and edentulism rates are declining. The community's elderly population is becoming an increasingly important constituency for dental public health. Little is known, however, about the actual oral health status of these people. An assessment of oral health in the elderly presents many considerations not found in an assessment of oral health among children. The selection of subjects to represent all the elderly in the community is difficult. Caries assessment is complicated by the need to distinguish between coronal caries and root caries and by the inability to determine accurately the reason for prior tooth loss. Periodontal assessment is more difficult than in younger populations because the conditions tend to be advanced. The recruitment of participants is difficult because each potential subject must be contacted individually. These assessments are needed so the oral status of adult populations can be determined.
The Future of the Caries Decline
Authors: Burt Brian A.
Published: May 2007

Dental caries declined in prevalence and severity among schoolchildren in the United States during the 1970s, although it still remains a problem in some areas. The decline could have started well before the 1970s, even though it was only recently identified. Caries should continue to decline as long as fluoride use remains around current levels. Use of fluoride toothpaste seems to be increasing. Sugar consumption is stable, although sucrose consumption as a proportion of total sugar consumption is declining. Increased tooth retention is thought to increase the risk of root caries in older persons, but the continued use of fluoride toothpaste should minimize any such increase. The main growth area for fluoride use may be in toothpastes. Monitoring caries trends in the future will require good data on the epidemiology of caries in young and middle‐aged adults.
The Surface‐Specific Caries Pattern of Participants in a School‐Based Fluoride Mouthrinsing Program with Implications for the Use of Sealants
Authors: Ripa Louis W. , Leske Gary S. , Sposato Alice
Published: May 2007

This paper describes the surface‐specific changes in the DMFS after seven years of a school‐based mouthrinsing program occurring in the elementary schools of the fluoride‐deficient Three Village Central School District, Long Island, New York. The effectiveness of mouthrinsing was evaluated annually by comparing the caries prevalence of a random sample of participants to that of Three Village elementary schoolchildren examined in 1975, prior to the beginning of the program. Because sixth‐grade children rinsed the longest and had the longest exposure to the caries challenge, only sixth‐grade children who participated in the program are included in the analysis. Overall, they experienced a 50 percent reduction in dental caries; the reduction was not uniformly experienced by all surfaces. Proximal surface caries showed the greatest rate of change but the least absolute change, because the amount of proximal carious lesions was low initially. Occlusal surfaces showed the greatest absolute reduction in dental caries, whereas buccolingual surfaces had the lowest percentage reduction. The majority of the decayed or filled surfaces, 94 percent, involved pits or fissures. Therefore, it was concluded that the combined use of sealants and weekly fluoride rinsing could produce a virtual elimination of dental decay in elementary schoolchildren.
Weekly Rinsing with a Fluoride Mouthrinse in an Unfluoridated Community: Results after Seven Years
Authors: Leverett Dennis H. , Sveen Odd B. , Jensen Oivind E.
Published: May 2007

In the fall of 1975, 1,915 children in grades K through eight began a school‐based program of supervised weekly rinsing with 0.2 percent aqueous solution of sodium fluoride in an unfluoridated community in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York.

At baseline and annually thereafter, a random sample of children in grades K through 11 received clinical dental caries examinations. The prevalence of dental caries by grade at each of the follow‐up dental examinations was compared to the grade‐specific prevalence of dental caries at baseline.

Overall, there was a decline of 57.8 percent in prevalence of caries in permanent teeth after seven years of rinsing. Among children in grades K through five, there was a decline of 35.4 percent in the prevalence of caries in primary teeth during the same time period. Tenth and eleventh grade children, after not rinsing for one and two years, respectively, continued to show the same trend toward lower caries prevalence as active rinsers. Caries prevalence among seventh and eighth graders after seven years of rinsing was not significantly different from caries prevalence among seventh and eighth grade lifetime residents of a nearby fluoridated community. A decline in the prevalence of caries in primary teeth among kindergartners prior to rinsing suggests that factors in addition to the mouthrinse program may have contributed to the decline in caries prevalence.
Dental Disease Prevalence in a Prison Population
Authors: Cunningham Marsha A. , Glenn Robert E. , Field Howard M. , Jakobsen Jane R.
Published: May 2007

This study compares dental disease prevalence in a prison population and a nonprison population in the same state. The prison population in this study consisted of 99 male residents (age 18–30) of a medium‐security prison in eastern Iowa. Data were collected during a pretreatment screening using a standard DMFT index. This prison population is compared to a nonprison male population (N = 101, age 18–30) from the Iowa Survey of Oral Health (1980).

Data indicated that there are statistically significant differences (p<.0001) between the two populations in each of the individual components of the DMF. In the prison population, the mean number of decayed teeth (3.0) and the mean number of missing teeth (1.7) are significantly higher in comparison to the nonprison population (0.8 and 0.6, respectively). The prison population demonstrated significantly fewer filled teeth (5.6) in comparison to the nonprison population (9.0). The data indicated, however, that there are no statistically significant differences in the total DMFT between the prison population (x = 10.53) and the nonprison population (x = 10.55).

In summary, the prison population demonstrated a significantly higher number of decayed and missing teeth and fewer filled teeth in comparison to a nonprison population in the same state and in the same year (1980).
Smoking Cessation Practices in Dental Offices
Authors: Seeker‐Walker R. H. , Hill H. C. , Solomon L. J. , Flynn B. S.
Published: May 2007

We have surveyed the health promotion efforts of dentists and dental hygienists in general dental practice in Chittenden County, Vermont, in relation to smoking. The response rate was 61 percent. Smoking issues were addressed by 76 percent of dentists and 81 percent of dental hygienists in approximately one quarter of their smoking patients. Although the majority of both dentists and dental hygienists advised their patients to change their smoking behavior, their advice was usually to cut down rather than to quit. Most of the respondents—78 percent of dentists and 93 percent of dental hygienists—considered it appropriate to give advice about smoking during visits for routine dental care and 68 percent and 89 percent, respectively, were willing to learn brief methods of advising their patients about smoking. Experience with giving advice about smoking and agreement that it was appropriate to give such advice were both strongly related to willingness to learn brief methods of giving such advice.

In individual dental practices, there were virtually no correlations between the dentist's and the dental hygienist's behaviors as far as the proportion of patients from whom a smoking history was taken, the proportion of smokers advised about smoking, the content of the advice, or the nature of the advice.

Only nine percent of dentists and 11 percent of dental hygienists were current smokers.
Saudi Arabian Dentistry: a Factual and Conceptual View
Authors: Guile E. Ernest , Al Shammary Abdullah
Published: May 2007

The dental health system of Saudi Arabia is discussed. Despite greater than average resources, crucial decisions are required to develop an effective dental health system. The development of dental policy may be benefited by modifying the curative‐treatment model of care to one that is preventive‐behavioralist oriented.
Book Review
Authors: Weiner Howard L.
Published: May 2007

Book reviewed in this article:

Milgrom P, Weinstein P, Kleinknecht R, Getz T. TREATING FEARFUL DENTAL PATIENTS: A PATIENT MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK
The Adoption and Implementation of the Fluoride Mouthrinse Program: Descriptive Results from School Districts*
Authors: Ann Scheirer Mary , Allen Bruce F. , Rauch H. John
Published: May 2007

Systematic research is needed about the dissemination and use of effective caries prevention measures to establish adoption trends and to examine factors related to desired practice. This paper examines the adoption and implementation of the fluoride mouthrinse program (FMRP) in public school districts. It extends a similar study by Silversin and Coombs in 1979 by reporting telephone interview data from the same sample of school districts. The results indicate that the extent of FMRP adoption has increased since 1979, but that the recent rate of new adopters has slowed considerably. About one‐quarter of the districts that had ever offered the FMRP have since discontinued it, most frequently by gradual abandonment. The reported accuracy of school level implementation was assessed in terms of seven required components of the FMRP. Only 57 percent of the sample reported implementing six or seven components correctly, showing at best only moderate accuracy of delivery at the local level.
Comparison of Dentists' Treatment and Management of Normal and Handicapped Patients
Authors: Seller Conny L. , Casamassimo Paul S.
Published: May 2007

Forty‐eight of 120 dentists (40%) responded to a survey using a two‐questionnaire time‐series design. Responding dentists with a median age of 36 years and 9.5 years in practice had received education in care of the handicapped mainly in dental school (42%) and continuing education (40%). They were asked to make the same treatment and practice management decisions for both normal and handicapped patients. No significant differences were found between normal and handicapped patients in the amount of time dentists spend on diagnosis, treatment, planning, or recall (p<0.05). For both normal and handicapped patients, the dentists as a group always chose the same option as treatment of choice for both normal and handicapped patients most frequently from a list of treatment or management options. Individual dentist consistency between normal and handicapped patients in treatment and management was good, with four out of five dentists choosing the same first treatment of choice for both normal and handicapped patients for similar circumstances. Only about one out of six dentists maintained a consistent priority sequence for both normal and handicapped patients when asked to rank a list of four or five possible treatment or management choices.
The New Mexico Sealant Program: A Progress Report
Authors: Calderone James J. , Davis Jeffrey M.
Published: May 2007

In 1979, the dental health program of the New Mexico Health and Environment Department began a school‐based sealant activity. Children in the first, second, third, sixth, and seventh grades in selected New Mexico communities were offered sea/ants through this sealant activity. During the 1984–85 school year, program staff began seeing several hundred sixth‐grade students who had received sealants in either the first, second, or third grade. Tooth‐ and surface‐specific data on the current condition of all the previously sealed occlusal surfaces were collected from all these previous recipients of sealants. During the 1985–86 school year, we found that sixth‐grade students who received sealants as first, second, or third graders had 5.6 percent of the occlusal surfaces of their first permanent molars either decayed, missing, or filled. Their classmates who had not previously received sealants had 26.85 percent of the same tooth surfaces either decayed, missing, or filled. During the 1985–86 school year, the complete retention rates for sealants were found to be 67.36 percent after six years, 78.53 percent after five years, and 93.47 percent after one year. The partial retention rates were found to be 10.46 percent after six years, 10.63 percent after five years, and 3.04 percent after one year.
Two‐year Follow‐up of 11,000 Dental Sealants in First Permanent Molars in the Saskatchewan Health Dental Plan
Authors: Whyte Robert J. , Leake J. L. , Howley T. P.
Published: May 2007

The follow‐up study examines the clinical success of sealing pits and fissures of permanent molars in a large auxiliary‐based children's dental care program. The success of sealant use after one and two years was assessed using the following independent variables, (1) total number of sealants, (2) tooth location, (3) age of patient, and (4) initial caries status. The computerized records of 4,525 patients with 11,237 sealants were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS). Success occurred where no further treatment services were performed or where the tooth was resealed.

The success rate after one year was 98.7 percent and after two years 97.0 percent. In considering tooth location, number of sealants per patient, age of patient, and initial caries status, the success rate varied only 2.2 percent over the two years.
Estimates of the Effects of a Statewide Sealant Initiative on Dentists' Knowledge and Attitudes
Authors: Bader James D. , Sams Darlene H. , O'Neil Edward H.
Published: May 2007

The effects of a statewide initiative promoting the use of dental sealants were evaluated by assessing dentists' knowledge and attitudes before the initiative and 18 months later. Immediate changes also were determined for participants in continuing education (CE) sessions, a principal component of the initiative. Results of these assessments indicate that minor improvements in knowledge and attitudes occurred, that the effects were stronger but still modest for those dentists who participated in CE sessions, and that respondents believed the initiative had resulted in increased use of sealants. This evaluation highlights the need for controlled assessments of the effectiveness of future promotional campaigns.
Longitudinal Study of the Caries Susceptibility of Occlusal and Proximal Surfaces of First Permanent Molars
Authors: Ripa Louis W. , Leske Gary S. , Varma Andre O.
Published: May 2007

Ten‐to 13‐year‐old children were examined annually for three years to determine the caries activity in the proximal and occlusal surfaces of first permanent molars. Almost every tooth with an unsound (carious or filled) proximal surface also had an unsound occlusal surface. Caries scores in proximal surfaces remained relatively constant and low. The percentage of teeth with occlusal caries or fillings increased throughout the study, even though the teeth had been erupted for seven to ten years by the end of the study. Within the age range studied, the time that teeth were in the mouth had little effect on the vulnerability of occlusal surfaces to caries attack.
The Use of Pit and Fissure Sealants in Private Practice: A National Survey
Authors: Cohen Leonard , LaBelle Ann , Romberg Elaine
Published: May 2007

The slowness in the adoption of sealant use has been caused by many interrelated professional, scientific, social, and economic factors. To study these factors, data were collected by the use of mail questionnaires sent to a representative sample of 3,504 private practice general dentists. The average percent of patients 18 years of age and younger receiving sealants was 18.7. Nearly one‐third of the respondents indicated that none of their patients received sealants. Data describing the following factors were obtained: demographic background, sealant awareness, attitudes and knowledge about sealants, and decision‐making factors. We concluded that professional organizations should take a more active role in promoting sealants to dentists, professional organizations and governmental agencies should increase efforts to inform patients/consumers of the benefits of sealants, guidelines for sealant use should be developed, state boards should permit the delegation of sealants to trained auxiliaries, and sealant manufacturers should make more effort to advertise and promote sealants.
AIDS and Dental Practice
Authors: Gerbert Barbara , Badner Victor , Maguire Bryan
Published: May 2007

Dental health care workers (DHCWs) can provide important diagnostic, treatment, and referral services for patients with AIDS and at risk for AIDS. They also have a responsibility to protect all patients in their practices, and themselves, from infectious disease transmission through the use of infection control. To determine the extent to which DHCWs are prepared to assume these responsibilities, a randomized survey of California DHCWs was conducted. Responses were obtained from 297 dentists, 128 hygienists, and 177 dental assistants. DHCWs who expressed a greater willingness to treat people with AIDS or HIV infection also practiced more thorough infection control. Respondents in all groups who perceived a greater percent of their patients to be at risk for AIDS were more likely to use infection control procedures (P<.0001). They also were more willing to treat such patients (P<.004) and were more likely to assess patients for AIDS by taking a thorough medical history (P<.02) and sexual history (P<.04). Since attitudes toward AIDS and perception of the percent of patients at risk in one's practice affect patient assessment and infection control procedures used by dental health care workers, educational programs designed to enhance DHCWs’response to the HIV epidemic should alert them to the extent of the problem and help them cope with their concerns.
Future Elementary Schoolteachers’Knowledge and Opinions about Oral Health and Community Programs
Authors: Glasrud Patricia H. , Frazier P. Jean
Published: May 2007

Dental public health practitioners can play a critical role in assuring that elementary schoolteachers have current, scientifically accurate oral health information upon which to base decisions on behalf of the children they teach. Teachers traditionally have educated children about oral health and often participate in school‐based prevention programs. This project examined the knowledge and opinions about oral health and community programs, and the perceived future roles and responsibilities in school‐based preventive oral health programs, of 313 elementary education majors enrolled at the University of Minnesota. Descriptive results indicate that these future teachers were ill informed and held inconsistent opinions about basic concepts and information related to oral health and oral health promotion. Findings suggest the need for greater public health efforts directed toward improving oral health knowledge and opinions of this influential population about effective community oral health programs.
Development of an Oral Health Survey: Columbus, Ohio
Authors: Kuthy Raymond A. , Martin Barbara W. , Siegal Mark D. , Eklund Stephen A.
Published: May 2007

This article describes the method used to develop and implement a local oral health survey (Columbus, Ohio) conducted in 1986. With the shift in the national dental disease pattern in the past decade, local oral health information is essential for program planning purposes. A collaborative effort by a city health department, a state health department, a dental school, and a school of public health demonstrated how this group worked harmoniously in a relatively inexpensive venture to determine the oral status of various age groups (grades 1–2, grades 6–7, age 35–44, and age 65 +). This information provided part of the framework for a five‐year dental plan at the Columbus Health Department. The survey design will serve as a basis for conducting a similar survey statewide. Modifications of existing oral health survey instruments are discussed.
Importance of Variables Associated with Practitioners' Estimates of Pit and Fissure Sealant Use
Authors: Romberg Elaine , Cohen Leonard A. , LaBelle Ann D.
Published: May 2007

Practitioner acceptance of pit and fissure sealants has been slow. To assess the factors that relate to the dentist's decision to use or not to use sealants, a comprehensive survey of 3,504 general dentists and 591 pediatric dentists was undertaken. Response rate to the mailed questionnaire was 37.6 percent (n = 1, 193) for general dentists and 61.2 percent (n = 329) for pediatric dentists. Items were grouped into ten scales believed to portray major variables associated with level of sealant use. Level of use, measured as an estimated percent of child patients receiving sealants, served as the dependent variable. A stepwise multiple regression was used to study the relationship between the scales and estimated level of use. Overall, the preventive orientation, opinion, and patient influence scales contributed the most to the explanation of the estimated level of use. These scales, for both general dentists and pediatric dentists, had the strongest simple correlations with sealant use and they also were the three scales that showed up most consistently as the prime scales in the multiple regression analyses. These results suggested that efforts aimed at encouraging a preventive philosophy and improving patient and practitioner opinion and knowledge about sealants should be undertaken.
School Dental Health in Honduras
Authors: Flanders Raymond A.
Published: May 2007

Project HOPE has been working with the Honduran government since 1983 to establish educational programs for health workers and improve the country's health care services. The Ministry of Health in Honduras, under the direction of the president, is planning a new emphasis on preventive dentistry. The feasibility of community water fluoridation is being examined, and dental health programs have been implemented in pilot schools around the country. The Ministry of Health plans to expand these pilot programs to include all elementary schools in Honduras. This article describes the dental health services in Honduras and the government's effort to establish a nationwide school dental health program with emphasis on preventive dentistry.
Time Estimates for Dental Treatment in Four Age Cohorts of an Adult Population
Authors: Tellervo Tervonen E. A. , Virtanen Kauko K. , Raustia Aune M. , Ainamo Jukka K.
Published: May 2007

Needs for tooth extractions, conservative dental treatment—including periodontal and caries treatment—and occlusal rehabilitation—including stomatognathic and prosthetic treatment or a combination of these—in a Finnish adult population were summarized and time estimates for the treatment calculated. The study population consisted of 1,275 adults in four age cohorts—25, 35, 50, and 65 years. A decrease was observed from five hours of total dental treatment time needed at ages 25 and 35 years to four hours at age 50 years and three hours at 65 years. At the age of 25 years, 86 percent of the treatment time (255 min) was needed for conservative therapy, the corresponding figures at 65 years being 35 percent (66 min). On the other hand, a fivefold increase (from 13% to 62%) in the proportion of time needed for occlusal rehabilitation was observed between age 25 and 65. A combination of Stomatognathic and prosthetic treatment was most frequently needed. The percent of time needed for tooth extractions varied from 1 to 3 percent among the four age cohorts.
Water Fluoridation: a Response to Critics in Australia and New Zealand
Authors: Burl Brian A. , Beltran Eugenio D.
Published: May 2007

Recent questions about the effectiveness of water fluoridation have come from Diesendorf in Australia and Colquhoun in New Zealand. This report examines the arguments of both authors in detail and finds errors in each. Diesendorf employed an outdated view of how fluoride exerts its anticariogenic action and took a number of quotations out of context. Colquhoun's data are questionable. Neither author has produced evidence to challenge the established safety and effectiveness of water fluoridation.
Evaluation of a Clinic‐based Sealant Program
Authors: Sterritt Gene R. , Frew Ralph A.
Published: May 2007

In 1984 a comprehensive sealant program was initiated for Guamanian children in grades one through eight. The goal of the program was to reduce caries rates in children on the fluoride‐deficient island to a level at or below US mainland scores. At the initiation of the program, decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (DMFS) scores on Guam were approximately double those for US mainland children under 17 years of age. For the clinic‐based preventive program, children in grades one through eight were bussed to one of two public health clinics for preventive services. These services included oral health education, toothbrushing instructions, and sealant application. Baseline and follow‐up dental examinations (DMFS) were conducted in 1984 and 1986 on 1,061 and 987 children respectively, in grades one through eight to evaluate program impact. From 1984 to 1986, after the advent of a pit and fissure sealant program where over 15,000 children annually had sealants applied to their teeth, DMFS scores decreased 45 percent. The entire reduction in DMFS scores occurred on pitted and grooved surfaces and the effect reduced the DMFS by 2.4 surfaces/child in two years. The overall participation rate for both the elementary and middle schools was 80 percent and the first annual follow‐up showed an overall sealant retention rate of 94 percent.
Is It Time to Reassess the Public Health Implications of Periodontal Diseases? A Review of Current Concepts
Authors: Hunt Ronald J.
Published: May 2007

In 1981 the American Association of Public Health Dentists' Subcommittee on Preventive called for a national initiative toward controlling periodontal disease, including the development of national policy statements from national dental organizations and the development of education programs for the public and the profession. Since the 1981 report, the findings of a diverse group of studies raises a variety of questions about the prevalence of periodontal diseases, the etiology and progression of the diseases, and the feasibility and practicality of controlling them. An examination of this new information leads to the conclusion that it is time to reassess the public health implications of periodontal diseases.
Public Health Implications of Recent Research in Periodontal Diseases
Authors: Burt Brian A.
Published: May 2007

Knowledge of the epidemiology, natural history, and bacterial etiology of the periodontal diseases has advanced considerably as a result of research conducted through the 1980s. Prevention and control of these conditions, however, remains mechanical, cumbersome, and often impractical, based as it is on bacterially nonspecific plaque removal for an indeterminate period. This research has not yet changed the content of public health programs, but it does affect the way the programs are applied. Because severe, generalized disease seems to be less prevalent than previously thought, the need of regular, routine professional care for everybody is questioned. Professional care in a public health context is likely to be more efficient when targeted toward those with severe disease. Dental health education for personal oral hygiene is still supported by scientific studies, though a targeted approach and careful assessment of educational content is needed. Until predictive screening methods for identifying susceptible individuals are developed, selection of priority groups for education and treatment should be guided by epidemiologic data.
Primary Canine Hypoplasia in Head Start Children
Authors: Silberman Stephen L. , Duncan William K. , Trubman Aaron , Meydrech Edward F.
Published: May 2007

Primary canine hypoplasia is an incomplete or defective development of the enamel matrix. The lesion is located on the labial surface and is seen more frequently on mandibular teeth. The purpose of this preliminary study was to determine the prevalence of this lesion among Head Start children. During a dental needs assessment of Mississippi Head Start children, 371 children from 11 centers were examined for this lesion. Of the centers, four were located in optimally fluoridated communities, and six were located in fluoride‐deficient communities. Ages ranged from three to five years. There were 206 males and 165 females, 334 black and 37 white children. At ten centers all children were black, while all children at one center were white. Results indicated no significant differences in the black population between fluoridated (38.2%) and fluoride‐deficient (36.3%) communities (F = .729) or between males (36.8%) and females (37.6%) (P = .877).When data were collapsed on sex and fluoridation status, the racial differences were highly significant (P =.001). The prevalence rate of dental caries associated with primary canine hypoplasia was 26.0 percent. These preliminary data indicate that the presence of primary canine hypoplasia may result in an increased potential for the tooth becoming carious.
Oral Health Knowledge and Attitudes of Elementary Schoolteachers in Michigan
Authors: Lang Paul , Woolfolk Marilyn W. , Faja Barbara Wirth
Published: May 2007

Teachers at elementary schools in two areas (urban and rural) of Michigan were surveyed to determine their sources of information about oral health and their knowledge and attitudes about dental diseases and disease prevention. Questionnaires were completed by 404 teachers (62% response rate). More than 80 percent of respondents from both areas were female. Demographic characteristics that were significantly different between groups included: median ages of urban and rural respondents (P<.01), median numbers of years in teaching (P<.01), and median years in residence (P<.03). Despite these differences, responses to the questionnaire varied little. For both groups, the most frequently cited sources of information about dental health were dentist's office (82%), followed by magazines and books (74%). The teachers considered preventing tooth decay as the most important reason for good oral hygiene. When asked to rank the effectiveness of ten methods of preventing caries in children, teachers ranked efficacious methods such as fluoridated water and pit and fissure sealants lower than making regular dental visits and reducing intake of sugared foods. Asked to rank the most effective method for children to receive fluoride, urban respondents ranked fluoridated water first, while rural respondents ranked this measure third. Findings suggest that teachers' knowledge about oral health and current methods of prevention is incomplete, is inaccurate in some instances, and varies little by geographic area.
Preventive Control of AIDS by the Dental Profession: A Survey of Practices in a Large Urban Area
Authors: Rydman Robert J. , Yale Seymor H. , Mullner Ross M. , Whitels David , Vaux Keith
Published: May 2007

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to report the proportion of dental practitioners adhering to the 1987 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) procedures for using infection control techniques (ICTs); (2) to identify attitudes toward infection control and disease; and (3) to establish whether certain practitioner characteristics or use of certain ICTs were related to willingness to treat HIV‐positive patients, willingness to volunteer for an HIV specialty clinic outside of regular practice, vaccination against hepatitis B, and a felt need for a specialty clinic within the practice to treat HIV patients effectively. A survey of approximately 3,800 members of a major metropolitan dental society found that 89 percent of respondents regularly used at least one CDC ICTbeyond routine medical histories. Ninety‐one percent indicated a moderate to extreme change in attitude toward the risks of infectious diseases and the regular use of ICTs (80.2% identified AIDS as the major factor in this change). Twenty‐seven percent indicated that they would knowingly treat HIV‐positive patients. No differences were found among practitioners willing to treat HIV‐infected patients and those unwilling to treat these patients in terms of adherence to the CDC ICT recommendations for dentists. Statistical association between ICT use and other practitioner response variables are discussed.