None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Early Childhood Caries (ECC) causes profound suffering, frequently requiring expensive treatment under a general anaesthetic. It is associated with other chronic childhood conditions such as otitis media and nutritional disorders, and is the strongest predictor of poor oral health in adulthood. Despite ECC being entirely preventable, marked ECC disparities exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in Australia. If the burden of ECC and associated oral health inequalities experienced by Indigenous children are to be reduced, more needs to be done to ensure that appropriate preventive measures, together with support for maintaining optimal oral health, are provided to carers of such children in the early life stages. This will be an interventional study, with all participants receiving the intervention benefits. The intervention will be implemented from birth and continue for the first three years of a participating child’s life. It will involve four components; dental care provided to mother during pregnancy, application of topical fluoride to the teeth of children, anticipatory guidance and motivational interviewing. Developing a culturally-appropriate ECC intervention that aims to improve child oral health will provide much needed evidence for policy makers to address the challenge of improved oral health and related outcomes for Indigenous children.
Interventions
Intervention comprises four components; provision of dental care to mother during pregnancy, fluoride varnish application to teeth of children, motivational interviewing and anticipatory guidance.
Dental care will comprise of extractions, restorations, scaling and prophylaxis, will be one-on-one with a dentist, and will take as many visits as required to achieve a non-diseased mouth.
Fluoride varnish application to teeth of children in the intervention group will occur when children are aged 6
Intervention comprises four components; provision of dental care to mother during pregnancy, fluoride varnish application to teeth of children, motivational interviewing and anticipatory guidance. Dental care will comprise of extractions, restorations, scaling and prophylaxis, will be one-on-one with a dentist, and will take as many visits as required to achieve a non-diseased mouth. Fluoride varnish application to teeth of children in the intervention group will occur when children are aged 6-, 12- and 18-months. Children in the delayed-intervention group will receive fluoride varnish application at 24-, 30- and 36 months. Application will be one-on-one by a trained research officer. Motivational interviewing for those in the intervention group will occur during pregnancy and when child is aged 6-, 12- and 18-months. Mothers in the delayed-intervention group will receive motivational interviewing when the child is aged at 24-, 30- and 36 months. Each session will last 1-1.5 hours. Anticipatory guidance for those in the intervention group will occur during pregnancy and when child is aged 6-, 12- and 18-months. Mothers in the delayed-intervention group will receive anticipatory guidance when the child is aged at 24-, 30- and 36 months. Each session will last 15 minutes. The dental care intervention will be stand-alone, but the motivational interviewing and anticipatory guidance will be conducted during the same sessions as fluoride varnish application.
Sponsors
University of Adelaide
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Other
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
0 to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Women who are pregnant with an Aboriginal child who live in the designated study area (South Australia).
Exclusion criteria
Those who are not pregnant with an Aboriginal child or who do not live in the designated study area
Outcome results
None listed