Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
J Public Health (Oxf). 2019 Mar 1;41(1):e103-e108. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdy107.
Inequalities in dental decay in young children persist, resulting in high admission rates for general anaesthetics for tooth extractions. Health visitors have the potential to improve dental attendance and oral health in families least likely to engage with dental services. There is little evidence on health visitor views on this.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 17 health visitors working in both affluent and deprived areas in a single UK city. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, anonymized and analysed following a constructivist grounded theory approach.
Knowledge of oral health was high and health visitors requested oral health education specific to the communities they worked in. Health visitors reported effective, formal referral processes to other health services but not to primary NHS dental services even when dealing with infants in pain. Health visitors interviewed were largely unaware of specific NHS dental services which reduce barriers to dental care including interpreting services and dental services for children with additional needs.
Health visitors interviewed were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about oral health but not about dental services. Inadequate links with NHS dental services may limit their effectiveness in oral health improvement and this needs to be addressed.
儿童龋齿的不平等现象仍然存在，导致需要大量使用全身麻醉来进行拔牙治疗。健康访视员有潜力改善最不可能接受牙科服务的家庭的牙齿就诊率和口腔健康。关于健康访视员对此的看法，几乎没有证据。
在英国一个城市的富裕和贫困地区，对 17 名从事健康访视工作的健康访视员进行了有针对性的半结构式访谈。访谈进行了录音、转录、匿名处理，并采用建构主义扎根理论方法进行分析。
健康访视员对口腔健康的认识水平很高，并要求提供针对他们所工作社区的口腔健康教育。健康访视员报告说，他们有有效的、正式的转介程序可以转介到其他卫生服务机构，但即使是在处理疼痛的婴儿时，也不会转介到 NHS 初级牙科服务机构。接受采访的健康访视员大多不了解 NHS 牙科服务，这些服务可以减少牙科护理的障碍，包括口译服务和为有特殊需求的儿童提供的牙科服务。
接受采访的健康访视员对口腔健康有一定的了解和热情，但对牙科服务却不了解。与 NHS 牙科服务的联系不足可能会限制他们在改善口腔健康方面的效果，这需要加以解决。
