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Ninth-grader, Alvin Simmons, has his teeth examined by Dr. Sreenivas Koka, dean of the School of Dentistry and Brittany Rogel, assistant professor of dental hygiene.

School of Dentistry begins two-year research project to improve children’s oral health

Published on Monday, May 13, 2024

By: Rachel Vanderford, rvanderford@umc.edu

Photos By: Melanie Thortis/ UMMC Communications

Students, faculty and staff from the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry visited the South Delta School District in Sharkey County to begin new research focused on improving oral health in school-age children.

The study aims to compare how various educational behavioral interventions, given to both children and their caretakers at South Delta High School and Middle School, affect their understanding and practice of good oral hygiene. The objective is to ascertain whether educating students on the significance of oral health maintenance will reduce their likelihood of future oral caries (decay) and whether extending the same education to their parent or guardian yields any impact.

“We’ve searched the medical literature to find a similar study and haven’t found one like this yet,” said Dr. Elizabeth Carr, chair of the Department of Dental Hygiene and principal investigator of the study. “The target population of 12–14-year-old children, the length of the study and the type of intervention has not been researched in this combination of factors, so we are very interested to see what will come after months of studying this group of participants.”

In the initial phase of the 30-month study, on May 1, oral exams were administered to 69 fourth through ninth graders in the South Delta School District to identify all instances of decayed, missing and filled teeth. This served as a baseline against which the researchers will conduct subsequent evaluations of each student every six months throughout the study.

During the remainder of the study, the students will be split into one of three groups: the control group, which will receive a bag of oral health supplies; another group, which will receive the same bag and presentations on oral health; and a final group, which will receive a dental care bag and oral health presentations to both the students and their caregivers.

Kelsey Welch, dental hygiene instructor; Brittany Rogel, assistant professor of dental hygiene; and Reagan Spengler, dental hygiene instructor prepare to give oral exams at South Delta Middle School. — Kelsey Welch, dental hygiene instructor, Rogel and Reagan Spengler, dental hygiene instructor, prepare to give oral exams at South Delta Middle School.

Lack of knowledge of how to care for children’s teeth and a misunderstanding of the importance of primary teeth have been thought to be key factors in the prevalence of oral caries in youth populations.

“What we’re seeing in Mississippi is that the biggest contributor to oral caries is the lack of education, not necessarily the lack of access to care,” said Regan Spengler, dental hygiene instructor. “Combined with the lack of coverage that dental insurance offers, when you don’t know how important dental care is, how it can affect the rest of your body, it’s just one more thing on the list that may not be a priority.”

Populations at high risk for dental caries share a set of characteristics described as social determinants of health, or SDOH, that influence the prevalence of dental caries more so than in populations not affected by the same factors. Low socioeconomic status, limited access to dental services and low education levels are among the myriad SDOH that contribute to dental caries.

In a 2015-16 study with 8-9-year-old children in Mississippi, where SDOH are compromised in many counties and differ among racial groups, nearly 31% had untreated tooth decay—affecting 42% of non-Hispanic black children compared to 28% of non-Hispanic white children. Tooth-related problems account for 51 million lost school hours each year in the United States and left untreated, can perpetuate the cycle of disadvantaged SDOH.

Dr. Teresa Perkins, professor of pediatric dentistry examines ninth-grade student Shunevia Whiting with McKenzi Mcquaig, dental hygiene instructor.

The research project comes as part of the Mississippi Population Oral Health Collaborative, an initiative between the School of Dentistry and the Mississippi State Department of Health that focuses on providing care to vulnerable populations in the state and increasing oral health education across Mississippi and beyond. One of the collaborative's strategic goals is to reduce tooth decay in children.

Towards this effort, MPOHC has also partnered with the UMMC Center for Telehealth, connecting with school nurses in 668 schools across the state to facilitate educational live sessions, to help nurses address dental emergencies and identify causes of pain. In addition, they connected with dentists across the state to create a contact list that schools can use as both a resource and referral source for students’ guardians.

“We’ve found that nothing worth doing happens on our own, and that we need others’ help to be successful,” Carr said. “The importance of partnering with other groups that are striving for the same aim has been essential in establishing our programs of serving the people of Mississippi.”