MJDF Dental Public Health & Evidence-Based Dentistry 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the role of the Office for Health Inequalities and Disparities (OHID) in UK dental public health?
- Leads national oral health improvement programmes, produces 'Delivering Better Oral Health' toolkit, and monitors oral health outcomes (Correct answer)
- Regulates dental professionals
- Funds dental research
- Manages NHS dental contracts
Correct answer: Leads national oral health improvement programmes, produces 'Delivering Better Oral Health' toolkit, and monitors oral health outcomes
OHID (formerly PHE Dental Public Health) leads national oral health improvement initiatives, produces evidence-based resources including the 'Delivering Better Oral Health' toolkit, and monitors population oral health data.
Question 2: What is the Inverse Care Law as it relates to dental public health?
- The availability of good dental care varies inversely with the need for it — those most in need have least access (Correct answer)
- Care improves as need increases
- Wealthy areas have worse dental services
- Only applies to medical care, not dentistry
Correct answer: The availability of good dental care varies inversely with the need for it — those most in need have least access
Tudor Hart's Inverse Care Law states that those with greatest health need often receive the least health care; in dentistry, deprived communities have higher caries rates but fewer NHS dental practices and greater barriers to access.
Question 3: What is the purpose of school-based dental screening programmes in the UK?
- Identify children with dental disease, refer for treatment, and provide epidemiological data — part of the BASCD survey programme (Correct answer)
- Provide dental treatment in school
- Replace dental examinations in practice
- Only for children from deprived areas
Correct answer: Identify children with dental disease, refer for treatment, and provide epidemiological data — part of the BASCD survey programme
School dental surveys (conducted by BASCD methodology) provide national and local prevalence data on caries, and screening identifies children needing referral; they are a public health tool, not a treatment service.
Question 4: What is the key message of the 'common risk factor approach' in dental public health?
- Risk factors for oral diseases (sugar, tobacco, alcohol, stress) are shared with general health conditions — addressing them simultaneously is more effective (Correct answer)
- Dental disease has unique risk factors not shared with systemic disease
- The approach is only used in specialist care
- Dental teams should not address general health risk factors
Correct answer: Risk factors for oral diseases (sugar, tobacco, alcohol, stress) are shared with general health conditions — addressing them simultaneously is more effective
The common risk factor approach recognises that dietary sugar, tobacco, and alcohol affect multiple conditions (dental caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer, obesity, diabetes, CVD) — dental teams addressing these contribute to general health improvement.
Question 5: What is the definition of 'incidence' vs 'prevalence' in dental epidemiology?
- Incidence: rate of new cases over time; prevalence: proportion of population affected at a point in time (Correct answer)
- They are identical
- Prevalence measures new cases; incidence measures existing cases
- Incidence is higher than prevalence always
Correct answer: Incidence: rate of new cases over time; prevalence: proportion of population affected at a point in time
Incidence measures the rate of newly occurring disease cases over a defined period (risk of developing disease); prevalence measures all existing cases (new and old) at a specific point in time (current disease burden).
Question 6: What is the SIGN 138 guideline and its relevance to dental public health in Scotland?
- SIGN 138 covers the prevention and management of dental caries in children — provides evidence-based recommendations for Scottish dental teams (Correct answer)
- An oral cancer guideline for England only
- A periodontitis management guideline
- A sedation safety guideline
Correct answer: SIGN 138 covers the prevention and management of dental caries in children — provides evidence-based recommendations for Scottish dental teams
SIGN 138 (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) provides evidence-based recommendations for prevention and management of dental caries in children, directly guiding clinical practice in Scottish primary care.
MJDF Dental Public Health & Evidence-Based Dentistry 4
What is the role of the Office for Health Inequalities and Disparities (OHID) in UK dental public health?