title: Use of fissure sealant retention as an outcome measure in a dental school setting.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to describe and assess the use of fissure sealant retention as a quality measure of the delivery system for pediatric dentistry. The Pediatric Dentistry Section at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry adopted Sealant retention as a measure of quality. Sealant retention in first and second molars was evaluated at each six-month recall appointment. Sealants were categorized as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Two hundred five sealants were evaluated between March 1998 and March 1999. The mean age of the patients at the time of sealant evaluation was 14.0 +/- 2.9. Mean sealant retention period was 29.8 +/- 23.2 months, with a range of 0.9 to 148 months. Median sealant retention period was 23.2 months. Overall, 75.6 percent of the sealed teeth were classified as satisfactory. Use of this data in making improvements is discussed. Our results indicate that the use of sealant retention is a suitable measure for quality of care in pediatric dentistry.
authors.affiliation: Section of Health Services Research, Ohio State University, USA. mascarenhas.l@osu.edu
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mascarenhas
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Moursi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D001840:Dental Bonding; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar; D015588:Observer Variation; D009820:Ohio; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry / Q000193:education; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000592:standards* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012575:Schools, Dental; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants