ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Factors affecting childrens adherence

to regular dental attendance
A systematic review

Parvaneh Badri, DDS; Humam Saltaji, DDS, MSc; ABSTRACT

Carlos Flores-Mir, DDS, MSc, DSc;
Maryam Amin, DMD, MSc, PhD Background. Parents adherence to regular dental
attendance for their young children plays an impor-

T
he prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) is tant role in improving and maintaining childrens oral
five times higher than that of asthma,1 making it health. The authors conducted a systematic review to
the most common chronic childhood disease.2 determine the factors that influence parental adher-
ECC is a serious public health problem that is ence to regular dental attendance for their children.
largely preventable3,4 through adequate adherence to oral Type of Studies Reviewed. The authors searched
hygiene, proper diet and feeding practices, and regular nine electronic databases to May 2013. They included
preventive dental visits.5-7 Poor oral health has a sig- quantitative and qualitative studies in which research-
nificant impact on childrens growth and development, ers examined factors influencing dental attendance
overall well-being and quality of life.8 in children 12 years or younger. The authors consid-
According to the American Academy of Pediatric ered all emergency and nonemergency visits. They
Dentistry (AAPD), children should have their first appraised methodological quality through the Health
dental visit within six months of the first tooths eruption Evidence Bulletins Wales methodological quality
and no later than their first birthday.9 The AAPD guide- assessment tool.
line also states that the most common interval of exami- Results. The authors selected 14 studies for the sys-
nation is six months. . . .9 The regular use of professional tematic review. Researchers in these studies reported
dental services, especially preventive services, has been a variety of factors at the patient, provider and system
associated with better oral health,10 because regular levels that influenced dental attendance. Factors identi-
dental visits permit early detection and better treatment fied at the patient level included parents education,
of oral diseases, as well as raise parental awareness of the socioeconomic status, behavioral beliefs, perceived
causes and prevention of oral disease.11,12 Nonadherence power and subjective norms. At the provider level,
to dentists advice has been recognized as a significant the authors identified communication and profes-
problem. Khner and Raetzke13 reported that a low sional skills. At the system level, the authors identified
percentage of patients followed recommended preventive collaborations between communities and health care
periodontal regimens. Regular dental attendance might professionals, as well as a formal policy of referring
have a significant influence on the uptake of preventive patients from family physicians and pediatricians to
measures related to oral hygiene and diet by increasing dentists.
parental education and awareness of oral disease and its Practical Implications. Barriers to and facilitators
prevention. of parents adherence to regular dental attendance for
To date, adherence studies have focused primarily on their children should be identified and considered
medical regimens and treatment,14,15 whereas adherence when formulating health promotion policies. Further
to dental regimens and preventive practices has received research is needed to investigate psychosocial determi-
little attention. Despite the importance of preventive nants of childrens adherence to regular dental visits.
dental measures in children, researchers in few studies Key Words. Dental care for children; dental care
have evaluated pediatric patients adherence to these utilization; pediatric dentistry; preventive dentistry.
measures.16,17 These researchers also paid more attention JADA 2014;145(8):817-828.
to preventive measures concerning oral hygiene rather doi:10.14219/jada.2014.49
than regular dental attendance. Moreover, the existing

Dr. Badri is a graduate student, Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Saltaji is a doctoral candidate and a graduate student, Orthodontic Graduate Program, School of Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Flores-Mir is an associate professor and head, Division of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Dr. Amin is an associate professor and head, Division of Pediatrics, School of Dentistry, University of Alberta, 5513-476 Edmonton Clinic Health Acad-
emy, 11405-87 Ave. N.W., 5th Floor, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 1C9, e-mail [email protected]. Address correspondence to Dr. Amin.

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

literature on adherence to dental visits is mainly empiri- compliance, barriers, facilitators and obstacles. For
cal. van Dulmen and colleagues18 conducted a systematic a more detailed account, see eTable 1 (available as supple-
review, the results of which showed that a poor defini- mental data to the online version of this article [found
tion of adherence or the lack of a theoretical framework at http://jada.ada.org/content/145/8/817/suppl/DC1]). In
resulted in failed attempts to improve adherence to addition, we screened by hand the reference lists of the
medical treatment in the short term. Thus, innovations selected articles for any articles that might have been
in oral health theory and practice are needed urgently, omitted. We did not apply any restrictions regarding
especially those that target young children, because their publication year or language.
adherence depends on caregivers willingness to comply Study selection. Two authors (P.B. and H.S.) inde-
with the indicated regimen.19 pendently reviewed the list of titles and abstracts for in-
For these reasons, it is important to understand fully clusion. They then retrieved the full articles for the final
the factors that facilitate or impede childrens adherence selection process. If an abstract was judged to contain
to regular dental attendance. Therefore, the purpose of insufficient information to make a decision about inclu-
this review was to systematically identify and analyze sion, the two authors reviewed the full article. They then
the facilitators of and barriers to childrens adherence to applied the same selection criteria to the complete ar-
regular dental attendance. ticles that had been applied in the initial selection phase.
The reviewers discussed any discrepancies in decisions
METHODS until they reached a consensus.
We reported this systematic review in accordance with Data collection process. The same investigators
the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (P.B. and H.S.) performed data extraction and resolved
and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement for reporting any discrepancies via discussion until consensus was
systematic reviews of health sciences.20 reached. If the reviewers deemed any article to be un-
Eligibility criteria. For this review, we considered clear after a full evaluation, they contacted the authors of
studies meeting the following predefined eligibility the study for clarification.
criteria. Studies should have included examination of Data items. The two investigators extracted data from
the barriers to and facilitators of dental attendance in each of the selected studies on the basis of study design,
emergency or nonemergency situations (that is, treat- participants ages, sample size, recruitment method, and
ment visits, preventive care visits) among children 12 barriers to and facilitators of dental attendance. Quantita-
years or younger, with no restrictions on sex or language. tive studies involved the use of data from closed-ended
We chose this age group because the highest prevalence questions, with researchers using numerical and statisti-
of caries with the lowest rate of dental attendance was cal tools to appraise facilitators of adherence to regular
found in this group.3,21 Moreover, regular dental at- dental attendance among children. In contrast, investiga-
tendance by children in this age group depends on the tors in qualitative studies used open-ended interviews or
willingness of parents and caregivers.16 With respect to focus groups to elicit information regarding both barriers
study design, we included quantitative, qualitative and to and facilitators of adherence to regular dental visits.
mixed-methods studies. We excluded studies in which Risk of bias in individual studies. The reviewers
investigators reported on dental attendance of children (P.B. and H.S.) assessed the methodological quality of
older than 12 years, unless they reported data separately selected studies, and they resolved discrepancies via dis-
for different age groups.22 cussion until reaching a consensus. They used the Health
Data sources and searches. We conducted com- Evidence Bulletins Wales methodological quality assess-
prehensive searches up to May 31, 2013, by using the ment tool to appraise the quality of the selected studies.23
following electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed We included the following methodological quality items
(1946 to March 29, 2013), Embase (1974 to 2013, week 12), in our assessment: methods of participant selection,
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2005 to first sample size calculation, assessment methods, efforts
quarter 2013), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects to address potential sources of bias and description of
(first quarter 2013), Cochrane Central Register of Con- statistical methods (including those used to control for
trolled Trials (first quarter 2013), PASCAL (1984 to 2013, confounding data).
week 13), CINAHL (1937 to March 2013) and Scopus Summary measures and synthesis of results. The
(1973 to March 2013). study included factorsclassified as barriers or fa-
We developed the search strategy with the help of a cilitatorsthat affected adherence to regular dental
specialized health sciences librarian at the John W. Scott attendance. The final outcome was a list of identified
Health Sciences Library, University of Alberta, Edmon-
ton, Alberta, Canada. We established search terms in ABBREVIATION KEY. AAPD: American Academy of
PubMed and then adjusted them as required for each Pediatric Dentistry. ECC: Early childhood caries. NA: Not
electronic database. The search terms included the fol- applicable. PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic
lowing: dental attendance, dental visit, adherence, Reviews and Meta-Analyses. TPB: Theory of planned behavior.

818 JADA 145(8) http://jada.ada.org August 2014

 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Identification Relevant records identified

through database searching
(n = 927) Duplicate records excluded
(n = 391)

Records screened on basis of

title and abstract (n = 536)
Screening

Records excluded on basis of

title and abstract (n = 480)
Full-text articles retrieved for
more detailed evaluation
(n = 56)
Articles excluded on basis of
Eligibility

inclusion and exclusion criteria

(n = 42)
Studies met inclusion and
exclusion criteria (n = 14)

Articles identified through

other sources (n = 5)
Included

Studies included in
qualitative analysis,
systematic review (n = 19)

Studies included in
quantitative analysis,
meta-analysis (n = 0)

Figure 1. Flow diagram of the literature search, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
(PRISMA).20

determinants. Whenever possible, we analyzed each item one was excluded because of an inadequate objective.)
according to the methodological strength of the study eTable 2 (available as supplemental data to the online
from which it was retrieved. version of this article [found at http://jada.ada.org/
Owing to the nature of the outcome, a meta-analysis content/145/8/817/suppl/DC1]) presents a summary of
was not possible. Our intent was to conduct only a quali- the excluded studies and the reasons for their exclusion.
tative synthesis. Study characteristics. Of the 14 studies identified
through the electronic databases, 12 were quantitative
RESULTS studies and two were qualitative studies. Four of the
Study selection. The search strategy resulted in iden- quantitative studies were conducted in North Ameri-
tification of 927 studies, including 391 duplicates. After ca,24-27 five in Europe,28-32 one in Africa,33 one in Asia34
eliminating the duplicates, the reviewers excluded an and one in South America.35 The study by Liena Puy and
additional 480 studies on the basis of title and abstract Ausina Mrquez28 was published in Spanish and translat-
screening; this resulted in 56 complete texts for further ed into English by a Spanish-speaking researcher for this
evaluation. After the reviewers applied the inclusion review. Of the two qualitative studies, one was conducted
and exclusion criteria, only 14 studies remained. An in North America36 the other in Europe.37 The reviewers
additional five reports were found by hand-searching the found five additional studies by means of hand-searching.
references of these 14 studies, for a total of 19 studies that These included a mixed-methods study38 from England,
fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria (Figure 120). two quantitative studies (one22 from North America and
(Of the 61 full-text studies identified, 11 were excluded one39 from the Caribbean) and two qualitative studies
because the population was inappropriate [based (one40 conducted in North America and one41 conducted
on our inclusion criteria], 27 were excluded because in the West Indies). Table 122,24-42 presents a summary of
of the populations age, three were excluded because they the data extracted from the included studies. (An expand-
were reviews of other studies or guidelines, and ed version of Table 1 is presented as eTable 3, available as

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

TABLE 1
Description of quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies.
SOURCE STUDY DESIGN PARTICIPANTS CHILDRENS AGE PARTICIPATION STATISTICAL/
(COUNTRY OF (SAMPLE SIZE) METHOD ANALYTIC
STUDY) METHOD
Quantitative Studies
Amin,22 2011 Cross-sectional survey Clients of Alberta 9 Years Telephone interviews Descriptive
(Canada) Child Health Bene t
(N = 405); clients of
Alberta Adult Health
Bene t (N = 356)
Brickhouse and Cross-sectional Caregivers 3-12 Years Mailed questionnaires Multivariate
Colleagues,24 2009 questionnaire (N = 55) regression
(United States)
Denloye and Cross-sectional and Children 7.5 Years Visits to pediatric clinic Descriptive
Colleagues, 33 2004 3 years (2001-2003) (N = 875) of preventive dentistry
(Nigeria) prospective collection area, University
of recorded data College Hospital
Ibadan (Nigeria)
Goettems and Cross-sectional Mother-child dyads 2-5 Years Childrens National Bivariate and
Colleagues, 35 2012 questionnaires and (N = 608) Immunization multivariate analysis
(Brazil) dental examination Campaign

Leroy and Cross-sectional Parent-child dyads 3 and 5 Years; Recruited shortly after Logistic regression
Colleagues, 29 2013 and prospective (N = 1,057) children recruited at birth and multiple
(Belgium) study; validated birth (2003-2004) imputation analyses
questionnaires and and examined in
clinical examination; 2007-2009
pilot study
Liena Puy and Cross-sectional Children (N = 957) Mean age, 11 years Attending one Descriptive
Ausina Mrquez, 28 study; descriptive of preventive
1997 (Spain) longitudinal study odontology unit
clinics for any reason
Quionez and Cross-sectional Parent-child dyads 12-24 Months Parents of Medicaid- Descriptive and
Colleagues, 25 2008 questionnaire and (N = 744) enrolled children univariate/bivariate/
(United States) longitudinal study; multivariate analysis
medical encounter
with child (medical
provider completed
dental encounter
forms)
Razak and Jaafar, 34 Cross-sectional study; Children (N = 166) 2-12 Years Treatment for rst Descriptive
1987 (Malaysia) randomly selected time
patients records
Reiss and Random allocation Parents and children 6-12 Years Notices mailed Binomial
Colleagues,26 1976 experimental study (N = 180)/33 families to home address, (nonparametric) test
(United States) and clinical screening telephone call, $5
incentive
Rodd and Prospective study of 45 children with cleft 2-15 Years; mean age, Computerized Independent-sample
Colleagues, 30 2007 failed appointments lip/palate, 45 age-, 8.8 years hospital appointment t test/stepwise
(England) over 12 months sex- and postal code database/12-month multiple regression
matched children period/three
without cleft lip/ specialist cleft clinics
palate
* Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.42

supplemental data to the online version of this article influence (that is, facilitators) were identified instead.
[found at http://jada.ada.org/content/145/8/817/suppl/ We found the factors influencing childrens adherence
DC1].) to regular dental attendance to be diverse among the
Although only four of the 19 studies (two quantitative studies.
and two qualitative) mentioned the word barriers in To better describe the identified factors in this review,
their titles, barriers to dental attendance were reported in we grouped them into three main categories, accord-
the content and outcome of all but four (three quantita- ing to the classification by Scheppers and colleagues43:
tive studies 26,34,35 and one mixed-methods study38) of patient level, provider level and system level. We used
the remaining 15 studies. In the four studies in which in- the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to present factors
vestigators did not report barriers, factors with a positive at the patient level in addition to sociodemographic

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

TABLE 1 (CONTINUED)

SOURCE STUDY DESIGN PARTICIPANTS CHILDRENS AGE PARTICIPATION STATISTICAL/

(COUNTRY OF (SAMPLE SIZE) METHOD ANALYTIC
STUDY) METHOD
Quantitative Studies (Continued)
Talekar and Cross-sectional study Caregivers and 2-5 Years Third National Preliminary
Colleagues, 27 2005 using national survey children (N = 3,424) Health and Nutrition descriptive
(United States) data Examination Survey *
Vignarajah, 39 1997 Cross-sectional Schoolchildren 12 Years In class/randomly Descriptive
(Caribbean island of questionnaire/pilot (N = 350) selected primary
Antigua) study schools
Wang and Children recalled for Children (N = 576) 3-18 Years; mean age, Regular recall visit, Multiple logistic
Aspelund, 31 2009 routine examination; 10 Years free-of-charge dental regression
(Norway) historical data and services
data about failed
appointments
collected
Yuan and Quasi-experimental, Mothers and 0-2 and 3-5 Years Community-based t test method
Colleagues, 32 2007 nonequivalent, two- newborns home visits
(Northern Ireland) group comparison (N = unknown)
(report gives mean
percentage of
samples); children
from 9 intervention
and 14 control wards
Qualitative Studies
Hoeft and Interview approach Mothers (N = 48) 10 Years or younger; Multiple sources: Standard qualitative
Colleagues, 36 mean age, 5 years immigrants parents, analytic procedures
2011 (United States) low-income clinics,
snowball referral,
community festivals
Kelly and Focus group approach Caregivers and 4-12 Years Caregivers of Standard qualitative
Colleagues, 40 2005 children (N = 76) Medicaid-enrolled analytic procedures
(United States) children
Naidu and Focus group approach Parents and Preschool-aged Letters sent to three Thematic content
Colleagues, 41 2012 caregivers (N = 18) preschools from a analysis method
(West Indies) list used for previous
epidemiologic study
in area
Vanobbergen Focus group approach Mothers and children 10-12 Years Participants recruited Content analysis
and Colleagues, 37 (N = 150) in social services, method
2007 (Belgium) neighborhood groups,
mothers groups in
schools
Mixed-Methods Study
Eckersley and Interviews, structured Mothers (N = 284) 3 Years Play groups and Standard qualitative
Blinkhorn, 38 2011 questionnaires, nurseries used to analytic procedures,
(England) qualitative and contact parents in city r2 tests
quantitative methods
included; Jarman
scores and Townsend
deprivation indexes

characteristics of participants. The role of TPB is to link Branden and colleagues46 show the applicability of TPB
behavioral, normative and perceived control beliefs to in predicting parental behaviors regarding oral health,
behavior via behavioral intention.44 The efficacy of TPB including parental adherence to regular dental
in predicting health-related behaviors is well supported attendance.
by empirical evidence.44-46 According to Ajzen,44 inten- Patient-level factors. Family sociodemographic char-
tions to perform behaviors of different kinds can be acteristics. Dental attendance by very young children
predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the depends mostly on parents or caregivers willingness to
behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral adhere to dental visits for their children. Investigators
control; and these intentions, together with perceptions in two studies reported that in families with multiple
of behavioral control, account for considerable variance children, younger children were more likely than older
in actual behavior.44 The results of a study by Van den children to have visited a dentist.25,29 Although dental

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

TABLE 2
Critical appraisal of quantitative studies.*
QUESTIONS PERTAINING REVIEWERS ASSESSMENT, ACCORDING TO STUDY
TO METHODOLOGICAL
Amin, 22 Brickhouse Denloye and Eckersley Goettems and Leroy and Liena Puy
QUALITY
2011 and Colleagues, 33 and Colleagues, 35 Colleagues,29 and Ausina
Colleagues, 24 2004 Blinkhorn, 38 2012 2013 Mrquez,28
2009 2001 1997
Is Study Relevant to Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Project Needs?
Does Report Address a Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes C ant
Clearly Focused Issue? tell
Is Choice of Study Method Cant Yes Yes Cant Yes Yes Cant
Appropriate? tell tell tell
Is Population Yes NA Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Appropriate?
Was Confounding and Bias No Yes Cant Yes Yes Yes No
Considered? tell
Cohort Study: Was Follow- NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
up Long Enough?
Are Tables/Graphs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Labeled Adequately and
Understandable?
Are You Condent About NA Yes Cant No Yes Yes No
Authors Choice and Use tell
of Statistical Methods?
What Are the Results of Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
This Piece of Research?
Can Results Be Applied Yes Cant Yes Yes Yes Cant Cant
to Local Situation? tell tell tell
Were All Important Cant tell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Outcomes/Results
Considered?
Is Any Cost Information No No No No No No No
Provided?
Accept for Further Use as NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Type IV Evidence ?
* Source: Weightman and colleagues.23
Mixed-methods study.
NA: Not applicable.
Type IV evidence is an observational study or economic analysis.23

visits for preschool-aged children depend exclusively income status22,33,35,36,41 and among those headed by
on parental decisions, the oral health of school-aged single parents.25
children also is under the influence of schools through Parents perceptions and attitudes. Parents lack of
requests for dental checkups and school examination knowledge regarding the oral health of their children,
schedules.41 However, with the exception of two studies the importance of primary teeth, the timing of the first
findings, the childs sex had no significant effect on ad- dental visit and the frequency of dental visits, as well as
herence to regular dental visits. Researchers in one study the perceived lower priority of dental health compared
reported that girls had significantly more symptomatic with general health and the perceived lack of need for
and asymptomatic dental visits than did boys,33 and regular dental visits for a healthy child have been shown
those in another study found that girls with clefts tended to directly influence parents intentions to adhere to
to miss more appointments than did boys.30 dental visits for their children.22,33,35,36,41
Furthermore, several researchers reported a sig- In addition, an unpleasant first dental visit, dissatis-
nificant correlation between childrens adherence to faction with previous appointments, uncertainty about
regular dental attendance and parents level of educa- dental treatments, childrens aversion to dental visits and
tion,24-29,33,35,40 economic status22,33,35,36,41 and marital dental carerelated anxiety can have a negative effect
status.25 We found only one study in which researchers with regard to parents adherence to recommended den-
did not report an association between parents education tal visits by their children.24,29,35,37,39-41
and their childrens dental attendance.36 Researchers also Parental awareness of social demands (that is, subjec-
reported that dental visits, especially preventive visits, tive norms) that make them responsible for maintaining
occurred less frequently among families with a lower their childrens health (including oral health), in addition

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

TABLE 2 (CONTINUED)

REVIEWERS ASSESSMENT, ACCORDING TO STUDY

Quionez Razak Reiss and Rodd and Talekar and Vignarajah, 39 Wang and Yuan and
and and Colleagues,26 Colleagues, 30 Colleagues,27 1997 Aspelund, 31 Colleagues, 32
Colleagues, 25 Jaafar, 34 1976 2007 2005 2009 2007
2008 1987
No Cant Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
tell
Cant Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
tell
Cant Yes Yes Yes No Cant Yes Yes
tell tell
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes

NA NA NA NA NA Yes NA

Yes Yes Yes NA Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes No Cant Yes No Cant Yes Yes

tell tell

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Cant Cant Yes Yes Cant Cant Yes Yes

tell tell tell tell
Yes Yes Cant Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
tell

Yes No Yes No No No Yes Yes

NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

to school requirements for dental checkups, can improve accessing public dental services.24,36-38,41
parental intentions and act as a positive predictor of System- and structural-level factors. Researchers
childrens dental attendance.40,41 Moreover, researchers identified several factors at the system and structural
in several studies identified factors that parents per- levels that influenced adherence to regular dental vis-
ceived as impediments to regular dental attendance by its.32,40 These include referrals from family physicians
their children; these included a lack of control over their and pediatricians, collaboration between communities
childrens oral health behavior, the high cost of dental and health care professionals, community-based educa-
services, school examinations and class schedules (time tion of parents about childrens oral health, parents and
constraints), difficulty accessing dental services, low caregivers general reliance on health-related institutions,
household income, travel distance and time required to perceived discrimination in the Medicaid system, trust
access dental services, and communication difficulties in the quality of the Medicaid system, and school sched-
with oral health care providers.28,30,33,36,39 ules and examinations (time constraints).32,40 Figure 2
Provider-level factors. Factors identified at the pro- presents the three main categories identified in this study
vider level that may have influenced parental decisions and their correlations.
to adhere to dental services for their children included Risk-of-bias assessment in included studies.
providers communication skills (especially for immi- Overall, the studies included in this systematic review
grants of diverse ethnicity), providers professional skills, attained a medium methodological quality, according
difficulties accessing dental services (such as lengthy to the grading method used.23 Table 222-35,38,39 presents
waiting lists), limited professional services for young and a critical appraisal of the quantitative studies and the
disabled children, and low level of respect for patients quantitative part of the mixed-methods study.

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

System- and Structural-Level Factors Provider-Level Factors

Referral recommendation systems from family physicians and pediatricians Providers communication skills
Collaboration between communities and health care professionals and Providers professional skills (especially for immigrants of diverse
community-based education of parents about childrens oral health ethnicity)
Reliance on health-related institutions, perceived discrimination in Difficulties accessing dental services (such as long waiting lists)
Medicaid program
Limited professional services for young and disabled children
Trust in quality of Medicaid program
Low level of respect for patients in public dental services
School schedules and examinations

Patient-Level Factors

Sociodemographic Characteristics Parents Behavioral Beliefs Subjective Norms Perceived Power-Behavioral

and Attitudes Control
Childs age: Dental attendance of young Parents awareness of
children mostly dependent on parents or Parents lack of knowledge regarding social demands that they Lack of control over childrens oral
caregivers oral health behavior oral health of their children take responsibility for health behavior
maintaining their childrens
Childs sex: No significant impact on Parents lack of knowledge regarding High cost of dental services
health (including oral
regular dental attendance importance of primary teeth, timing of
health) School examinations and class
first and subsequent dental visits
Parents education: Researchers in nine schedules
School requirements for
of 19 studies reported significant Perception that dental visits are of
dental checkups Difficulty accessing dental services
correlation between parents educational lower priority than general health, food
level and childrens adherence to regular and shelter Low household income
dental visits
Lack of perceived need for dental visits Distance to oral health care
Economic status: Dental visits for a healthy child provider
especially asymptomaticassociated
Positive and negative perceptions about Time required to access dental
significantly with parents economic status
bringing a child to the dentist have been services
Marital status: Single parenthood could shown to directly influence parents
Communication difficulties with
act as a barrier to childrens adherence to adherence to dental visits for their
oral health care providers
regular dental visits children
A pleasant first dental visit
Dissatisfaction with previous dental
appointments
Uncertainty about dental treatments
Childrens aversion to dental visits,
dental carerelated anxiety

Figure 2. Flow diagram of patient-level, provider-level and system- and structural-level factors, as classified by Scheppers and colleagues,43
that influence childrens dental attendance, according to systematic review findings.

Table 323,36-38,40,41 presents a critical appraisal of the the importance of regular dental attendance as the third
qualitative studies. We conducted a qualitative synthesis main component of the behavioral level of preventive
only; a meta-analysis was not possible owing to the type oral health (after oral hygiene and diet),6,7 we looked for
of data collected. evidence of influencing factors in reliable qualitative and
quantitative studies. Investigators in the included studies
DISCUSSION used cross-sectional and quasi-experimental or ran-
Children generally face more barriers to obtaining dental domly experimental methods, as well as a focus group
care services than they do accessing primary medical conducted with an in-depth interview design.
services.47 On the other hand, high degrees of avail- One limitation of this systematic review was our use
ability and accessibility of care, although important, do of the PRISMA statement, which focuses primarily on
not necessarily lead to better utilization of services.48 randomized clinical trial reports as a guideline for clar-
Despite clear evidence of the positive impact of regular ity and transparency.52 No reporting guidelines, to our
dental attendance on childrens oral health and quality of knowledge, have been developed specifically for observa-
life,49-51 the underutilization of dental services remains tional studies. In addition, although we used the Health
of great concern in oral health promotion policies for Evidence Bulletins Wales methodological quality assess-
children.22 Therefore, given the prevalence of ECC and ment tool to assess bias risk, because of the nature of the

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

TABLE 3
Critical appraisal of qualitative studies.*
QUESTIONS REVIEWERS ASSESSMENT, ACCORDING TO STUDY
PERTAINING TO
Eckersley and Hoeft and Kelly and Naidu and Vanobbergen
METHODOLOGICAL
Blinkhorn, 38 Colleagues, 36 Colleagues, 40 Colleagues, 41 and Colleagues, 37
QUALITY
2001 2011 2005 2012 2007
Is Study Relevant to Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Project Needs?
Does Report Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Address a Clearly
Focused Issue?
Is Choice of Cant tell Yes Yes Yes Cant tell
Qualitative Method
Appropriate?
Was Authors Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Position Stated
Clearly?
Was Sampling No No Yes Yes Yes
Strategy Clearly
Described and
Justied?
Was an Adequate Not applicable Cant tell Yes Yes Yes
Description of Data
Collection Method
Given?
Were Procedures Yes Cant tell Yes No Cant tell
for Data Analysis/
Interpretation
Described and
Justied?
What Are the No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Primary Findings?
Are the Results Yes Cant tell No Yes Yes
Credible?
Can the Results Be Yes Cant tell Cant tell Cant tell Cant tell
Applied to Local
Situation?
Were All Important Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Outcomes/
Results Considered?
Accept Study Cant tell Cant tell Cant tell Cant tell Cant tell
Findings for Further
Use?
* Source: Weightman and colleagues.23
Mixed-methods study.

outcomes evaluated, we were unable to use it objectively in these studies primarily were parents or caregivers,
to give more weighting to outcomes of studies with a because childrens oral health behavior primarily is based
lower risk of bias. However, this might not be a signifi- on parents decisions.53,54
cant limitation, as almost all the studies in our systematic Although nearly all of the selected studies at-
review had a similar risk of bias. tained a medium methodological quality according to
In this review, we identified diverse determinants the grading method used (Table 222-35,38,39 and Table
of adherence to dental attendance. The main foci of 323,36-38,40,41), we identified some factorial differences
the included studies were sociodemographic factors, and similarities. For instance, the demographic char-
attitudes based on behavioral beliefs, perceived power acteristics of the participants varied. Some researchers
and behavior control, and subjective norm determinants included only age, sex22,28,32,33,38,39 or both, whereas oth-
at patient, provider and system levels. Researchers in ers included the educational level of parents, household
most of the studies who used the above determinants income, family status, ethnicity, distance traveled and
discovered more barriers than facilitators to regular medical history.24-27,29,31,35-37 On the basis of these and
dental attendance among vulnerable children in low- other variables, we found discrepancies in the findings.
income households, immigrants of diverse ethnicity and Studies conducted by Amin,22 Rodd and colleagues30
those with a medical history of illness. The participants and Wang and Aspelund31 showed no significant asso-

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 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

ciation between dental attendance and demographic opted a satellite approach (that is, an isolated approach)
characteristics such as age, sex, income and parents rather than a theory-driven approach, their identifica-
educational level, whereas other studies 24,25,27,28,33,35 tion of psychosocial barriers and facilitators was less
showed significant correlations, either as barriers or significant.
facilitators. This latter evidence confirms the findings A solution to the challenge of identifying factors
of previous reports showing significant correlations that have an impact on adherence to dental visits might
between regular dental visits and socioeconomic charac- be found in similar studies of adult participants that
teristics such as income, education and geographical involved the use of TPB to collect and analyze data. For
location of participants.55,56 example, Luzzi and Spencer 49 found that attitude and
Investigators in several studies reported that sub- subjective norm had a positive effect on dental visits,
jective norms were less influential than were other whereas control perception had a negative effect. Anoth-
determinants of dental attendence; thus, some investi- er recent study conducted by Anderson and colleagues58
gators22,27,30,35 highlighted the need for further inves- highlighted the significance of subjective norm-based
tigations into the effect of psychosocial determinants messages and satisfaction with the dentist, as well as en-
of oral health behaviors. Kegeles56 and Ball57 made a vironmental constraints in dental careseeking behavior,
similar suggestion, but we excluded their studies from which we also identified in this systematic review. The
this systematic review because they lacked an age cat- successful application of TPB in adult populations might

Although a review of the literature reveals ongoing interest in the topic

of dental attendance, the underutilization of dental services persists for
young children, especially among low-income and immigrant families.

egory. Ball57 divided the major determinants of oral indicate its potential success in addressing psychosocial
health behaviors (including dental visits) into four main determinants of childrens adherence to regular dental
categories: cultural factors such as family/community attendance.
cultural perceptions; social factors such as reference Finally, the main role of systematic reviews is to distill
groups (those that directly or indirectly influence ones knowledge and to provide appropriate guidelines for
attitudes or behavior) and aspirational groups (those to improving health practices, effective health services and
which a person aspires); personal factors such as age and the overall function of the health care system. Although
economic circumstances; and psychological factors such a review of the literature reveals ongoing interest in the
as motivation, beliefs and attitudes. topic of dental attendance, the underutilization of dental
Similarly, attempts by Kegeles56 to identify psychoso- services persists for young children, especially among
cial factors motivating people to seek and obtain preven- low-income and immigrant families. In this systematic
tive dental care resulted in the authors finding fewer review, we identified several studies in which researchers
studies with a focus on facilitators. Therefore, our find- explored determinants of childrens adherence to dental
ing that investigators in more studies explored barriers visits; we also highlighted the factor of motivation and
rather than facilitators is consistent with Kegeless find- its potential to defeat the identified barriers, many of
ings. Ball57 and Kegeles56 suggested that motivation is a which were linked to psychosocial factors.
key factor in determining utilization of dental services, a
finding similar to that for other health care services. CONCLUSIONS
Children rely on their parents or caregivers motiva- In this systematic review, we identified demographic,
tion, particularly concerning health behaviors involving socioeconomic, and structural and cultural factors that
a financial outlay. Ball57 argued that people have biogenic had a strong potential to act as barriers to regular dental
(for example, hunger or thirst) and psychogenic needs attendance by children in various circumstances. On the
(for example, recognition or esteem). Biogenic needs basis of the order of importance, we identified structural
are more intense motivators than are most psychogenic factors, health policy decisions, community factors, and
needs. Given that the adherence to preventive dental cultural and demographic characteristics that facilitated
visits is associated partly with psychogenic needs, further childrens regular dental attendance. When making oral
research is required to better understand factors that health recommendations, dental professionals should
influence psychogenic perceptions of parents regarding identify and consider barriers to and facilitators of
their childrens regular dental attendance. Consequently, parents adherence to regular dental visits and to other
we found the need for a paradigm shift toward investi- aspects of professional recommendations for their chil-
gating the psychosocial determinants, and this was the dren. Further research is needed to investigate psycho-
main objective of some studies22,27,35,37,40 included in this social determinants of childrens adherence to regular
review. However, because researchers in these studies ad- dental visits among at-risk populations. Q

826 JADA 145(8) http://jada.ada.org August 2014

 ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

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