Study shows ‘talking intervention’ can help to prevent tooth decay in children
New research has highlighted the importance of having a novel ‘talking intervention’ to improve children’s dental health.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Health Research, found that a therapeutic conversation by trained dental nurses with families of children having teeth extracted has led to a 29 per cent reduction in risk of those children having new tooth decay two years later, compared to children whose families didn’t have that conversation.
Chief Investigator of the study Professor Cynthia Pine CBE is an Honorary Consultant at Barts Health NHS Trust, Professor of Dental Public Health at Queen Mary University of London and Consultant in Dental Public Health at Salford Care Organisation.
Professor Pine said: “This trial is important because we found that if we change how we talk to parents about prevention, their children go on to develop many fewer cavities. The key is helping parents to choose one or two behaviours they feel they can change for their child, rather than us telling parents what to do, that makes the difference.”
Today, nearly a quarter of five-year-olds in the UK experience tooth decay. Children from the most deprived areas have more than twice the level of decay (34%) than those from the least deprived (14%).
33,779 children aged nine or under were admitted to hospital to have teeth extracted because of tooth decay in 2017-18.
The research team developed a ‘talking’ intervention and trained dental nurses to have this therapeutic conversation with parents of children coming to have their children’s teeth taken out.
The Dental Recur Brief Negotiated Interview, or DR-BNI focuses on how families can prevent tooth decay in the future. Rather than telling families what to do, they choose goals they feel they can do, like swapping sweet drinks for unsweetened ones or brushing their child’s teeth at bedtime.
At the end of the 30-minute DR-BNI, the dental nurse made a review appointment with a general dental practice (GDP). The team wrote to the GDP with the goals parents had agreed and asked the dentist to treat the child as at high risk to new tooth decay.
The trial ran in 12 centres in the UK with over 200 families of five to seven-year-old children having baby teeth extracted.
The study found that DR-BNI children had significantly healthier teeth and had reduced the risk of having new tooth decay by 29% compared to those who had a controlled conversation.
The intervention focuses on how families can prevent tooth decay in the future. Rather than telling families what to do, they choose goals they feel they can do, like swapping sweet drinks for unsweetened ones or brushing their child’s teeth at bedtime.
Picture: Professor Cynthia Pine CBE, taken by Bill Knight OBE.