Current guidelines recommend that a child's first dental visit be by their first tooth eruption or age one, though there is little evidence promoting its effectiveness in preventing dental caries.
Previous studies have explored community-based education, oral health promotion, and preventive strategies, such as fluoride varnish applications.
However, few birth cohort studies report on dental visit patterns, and even fewer directly assess the causal relationship between early dental visits and caries incidence.
Additionally, studies indicate that only a small proportion of children attend their first dental visit before age one, with disparities in early dental care access depending on socioeconomic and geographic factors.
This project aims to:
- Evaluate the impact of early dental visits on the development of dental caries.
- Investigate fluoride exposure as a potential factor influencing this relationship.
By pooling international data and employing rigorous analytical methods, GLOBICS seeks to address these knowledge gaps.
This project will provide robust evidence on the effectiveness of early dental visits in preventing childhood dental caries, ultimately informing global oral health policies and improving preventive strategies.
Investigators
- Professor Karen Glazer De Anselmo Peres, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Dr Sarah Whalan, ORIGINS Data Manager, The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Associate Professor Gustavo Giacomelli Nascimento, Duke-NUS Medical School
- Dr Shilpa Sarawagi, National Dental Centre Singapore
- Dr Karla Gambetta-Tessini, National Dental Centre Singapore