Abstract
BackgroundAlthough sealants are an established and recommended caries-preventive treatment, many children still fail to receive them. In addition, research has shown that existing measures underestimate care by overlooking the sealable potential of teeth before evaluating care. To address this, the authors designed and evaluated 3 novel dental electronic health record–based clinical quality measures that evaluate sealant care only after assessing the sealable potential of teeth. MethodsMeasure I recorded the proportion of patients with sealable teeth who received sealants. Measure II recorded the proportion of patients who had at least 1 of their sealable teeth sealed. Measure III recorded the proportion of patients who received sealant on all of their sealable teeth. ResultsOn average, 48.1% of 6- through 9-year-old children received 1 or more sealants compared with 32.4% of 10- through 14-year-olds (measure I). The average measure score decreased for patients who received sealants for at least 1 of their sealable teeth (measure II) (43.2% for 6- through 9-year-olds and 28.4% for 10- through 14-year-olds). Fewer children received sealants on all eligible teeth (measure III) (35.5% of 6- through 9-year-olds and 21% of 10- through 14-year-olds received sealant on all eligible teeth). Among the 48.5% who were at elevated caries risk, the sealant rates were higher across all 3 measures. ConclusionsA valid and actionable practice-based sealant electronic measure that evaluates sealant treatment among the eligible population, both at the patient level and the tooth level, has been developed. Practical ImplicationsThe measure developed in this work provides practices with patient-centered and actionable sealant quality measures that aim to improve oral health outcomes.
Highlights
Sealants are an established and recommended caries-preventive treatment, many children still fail to receive them
We evaluated sealant placement rates in dental practices, using specifications defined by the Dental Quality Alliance (DQA) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA), and we discovered that, at the practice level, both the OHA and DQA
When assessing the validity of these measures across 4 dental institutions, we identified measurement gaps that could be bridged by using data from the dental electronic health records (EHRs)
Summary
Sealants are an established and recommended caries-preventive treatment, many children still fail to receive them. Measure I recorded the proportion of patients with sealable teeth who received sealants. Measure II recorded the proportion of patients who had at least 1 of their sealable teeth sealed. Measure III recorded the proportion of patients who received sealant on all of their sealable teeth. The average measure score decreased for patients who received sealants for at least 1 of their sealable teeth (measure II) (43.2% for 6through 9-year-olds and 28.4% for 10- through 14-year-olds). A valid and actionable practice-based sealant electronic measure that evaluates sealant treatment among the eligible population, both at the patient level and the tooth level, has been developed. The measure developed in this work provides practices with patientcentered and actionable sealant quality measures that aim to improve oral health outcomes. Caries risk; dental quality measures; dental sealants; electronic measures
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
