Department of Stomatology, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China; Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
J Dent. 2022 Oct;125:104250. doi: 10.1016/j.jdent.2022.104250. Epub 2022 Aug 6.
This study aimed to explore parental perspectives on an outreach dental service and silver diamine fluoride (SDF) therapy to arrest and prevent early childhood caries.
This qualitative study collaborated with an outreach service offering SDF therapy to kindergarten children and oral health education to the children's parents. The study was conducted in 2018 using purposive sampling of participating parents from selected kindergartens in Hong Kong until data saturation was reached. Five parents were recruited from each kindergarten for a focus-group discussion. The data were manually coded for thematic analysis.
Ten focus-group discussions with 49 parents were held to achieve data saturation. The oral health education largely met the parents' expectations regarding enriching their child's oral health knowledge, raising their child's dental awareness, and promoting parent-assisted toothbrushing. Some parents did not consent to their children undergoing SDF therapy because it permanently stains caries black, which adversely affects appearance. They were also concerned about potential toxicity of SDF. Parents who did consent preferred the arrest and prevention of dental caries over aesthetics which are temporary until the primary teeth exfoliate.
This outreach dental service improved parental dental knowledge. Some parents were generally satisfied with the outreach dental services, preferred caries arrest over aesthetics, and accepted SDF therapy. However, some parents worried about SDF toxicity. The results of this study provide rich, in-depth, and multi-dimensional information about parents' experiences of taking the outreach dental service and their opinions about SDF therapy.
Dentists can use the arguments from this study to form a protocol for communicating with parents before SDF therapy. This study shows that outreach dental services improve dental knowledge. Some parents prefer caries arrest over aesthetics and accept SDF therapy; however, some parents worry about SDF toxicity.
本研究旨在探讨家长对上门牙科服务和使用氨化银（SDF）治疗来控制和预防幼儿龋病的看法。
本定性研究与上门服务合作，为幼儿园儿童提供 SDF 治疗和儿童家长口腔健康教育。该研究于 2018 年进行，采用目的性抽样，从香港选定的幼儿园中选取参与的家长进行焦点小组讨论，直到达到数据饱和。每个幼儿园招募 5 名家长进行焦点小组讨论。对数据进行手动编码进行主题分析。
共进行了 10 次焦点小组讨论，有 49 名家长参加，达到了数据饱和。口腔健康教育在很大程度上满足了家长丰富孩子口腔健康知识、提高孩子口腔保健意识和促进家长协助刷牙的期望。一些家长不同意他们的孩子接受 SDF 治疗，因为它会使龋齿永久性地变黑，这会影响外观。他们还担心 SDF 的潜在毒性。同意接受 SDF 治疗的家长更看重龋齿的控制和预防，而不是暂时的美观，因为这些牙齿会脱落。
该上门牙科服务提高了家长的牙科知识。一些家长总体上对上门牙科服务感到满意，更看重龋齿的控制和预防，而不是美观，也接受 SDF 治疗。然而，一些家长担心 SDF 的毒性。本研究的结果提供了有关家长接受上门牙科服务和对 SDF 治疗的看法的丰富、深入和多维信息。
牙医可以使用本研究的结果，在进行 SDF 治疗之前与家长沟通制定协议。本研究表明，上门牙科服务可以提高牙科知识。一些家长更看重龋齿的控制和预防，而不是美观，也接受 SDF 治疗；然而，一些家长担心 SDF 的毒性。
