The importance of early dental appointments & oral screenings for children
Date
2022-04-15Author
Warren, Hailey
Jones, Morgan
Stoddard, Jennifer
Weatherson, Shae
Advisor
Martin, Julie L.Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Warren, Hailey; Jones, Morgan; Stoddard, Jennifer; Weatherson, Shae. 2022.
The importance of early dental appointments & oral screenings for children -- In Proceedings: 21st Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University, p. 24
Abstract
Problem Statement: Millions of low income children go without dental care,
including routine exams. Educating nursing students may improve this number
significantly. Purpose: This project focus was to provide interprofessional collaboration
between dental hygiene and nursing students. The goal was to provide pediatric oral
health education to nursing students that they can then share with their own patients.
Methods: A review of five journal articles from the PubMed database was performed to
assess information related to dental disparities in pediatric patients. One journal article
was specific to a study regarding how competent nursing students felt about dental
hygiene procedures. Results: Participants felt most comfortable discerning normal and
abnormal structures in their patient’s mouths and felt least comfortable recognizing oral
symptoms of systemic diseases as well as having discussions regarding the use of xylitol,
chlorhexidine and fluoride. Data collected revealed that Latino and African American
children had higher rates of dental caries than Caucasian children and low-income and
rural children were less likely to have dental care or routine exams than urban and higherincome
children. Conclusions: Suggestions for interprofessional education workshops
with healthcare professionals to ensure oral screenings are given to all children regardless
of access to dental care, with emphasis on Latino or African Americans, ranging from
newborn to twelve years of age. The significance of the oral hygiene education was to
emphasize the link between oral and systemic health and how some systemic diseases
have oral manifestations that should be observed by all healthcare professionals to
properly care for their patients.
Description
Presented to the 21st Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum (URCAF) held at the Rhatigan Student Center, Wichita State University, April 15, 2022.