Pediatric Oral Health Promotion in Primary Care Utilizing Standardized Education

Approved May 2017 by the faculty of UMKC in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice ; Dental caries, or tooth decay, is experienced by 60-90% of children. The incidence increases in high-risk children, such as those from low socio-economic backgrounds who have limited access to dental care. A quasi-experimental, non-randomized quality improvement project was conducted to increase positive oral health habits in preschool aged children, specifically twice daily brushing and reduction of sugary drink consumption, by promoting standardized oral health education in primary care, in order to reduce the disease burden of dental caries experienced by this population. This evidence-based project involved children aged 2-5 years old and their caregivers. The intervention of this project was to provide a standardized oral health care education bundle to families (Healthy Teeth, Healthy Me), consisting of a child-friendly video, educational information for caregivers, and child-focused activities. The intervention was provided to 54 families at a pediatric primary care office. The outcome measures were to increase the number of children who are brushing their teeth twice daily and to decrease the number of sugary drinks consumed by the child, when compared to children who are receiving standard education. After statistical analysis, the results of this project showed significant improvement in increasing teeth brushing and decreasing sugary drink consumption.