• Ted P Raybould, A Stevens Wrightson, Christi Sporl Massey, Tim A Smith, and Judith Skelton.
• Professor, Department of Oral Health Science, College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Kentucky, USA. tprayb1@email.uky.edu
• Spec Care Dentist. 2009 Nov 1; 29 (6): 232-6.

AbstractChildhood oral disease is a significant health problem, particularly for vulnerable populations. Since a major focus of General Dentistry Program directors is the management of vulnerable populations, we wanted to assess their attitudes regarding the inclusion of physicians in the prevention, assessment, and treatment of childhood oral disease. A survey was mailed to all General Practice Residency and Advanced Education in General Dentistry program directors (accessed through the ADA website) to gather data. Spearman's rho was used to determine correlation among variables due to nonnormal distributions. Overall, Advanced General Dentistry directors were supportive of physicians' involvement in basic aspects of oral health care for children, with the exception of applying fluoride varnish. The large majority of directors agreed with physicians' assessing children's oral health and counseling patients on the prevention of dental problems. Directors who treated larger numbers of children from vulnerable populations tended to strongly support physician assistance with early assessment and preventive counseling.

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