Assessing the Effectiveness of a School-Based Dental Clinic on the Oral Health of Children Who Lack Access to Dental Care: A Program Evaluation

作者：Carpino Rachel; Walker Mary P; Liu Ying; Simmer Beck Melanie^*

来源：Journal of School Nursing, 2017, 33(3): 181-188.

DOI：10.1177/1059840516671784

• school-based clinics
• dental health
• best practices
• practice guidelines
• program development
• evaluation

This program evaluation examines the effectiveness of a school-based dental clinic. A repeated-measures design was used to longitudinally examine secondary data from participants (N = 293). Encounter intensity was developed to normalize data. Multivariate analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to investigate the effect of encounter intensity on the change in decay, restorations, and treatment urgency. A Pearson's correlation was used to measure the strengths of association. Encounter intensity had a statistically significant effect on change in decay (p = .005), restorations (p = .000), and treatment urgency (p = .001). As encounter intensity increased, there was a significant association with the decrease in decay (-.167), increase in restorations (.221), and reduction in referral urgency (-.188). Incorporating dental care into a school-based health center resulted in improved oral health in underserved children while overcoming barriers that typically restrict access. The collaboration of school nurses with the school-based dental clinic was an important element for maximizing student access to dental care.

• 出版日期2017-6