Projects / Programmes
Analysis of oral health indicators and oral health promotion of Slovene population
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.08.00 |
Medical sciences |
Public health (occupational safety) |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B680 |
Biomedical sciences |
Public health, epidemiology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 3.03 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
Health sciences |
oral health indicators, oral health interview, clinical survey, oral health promotion, EGOHID
Researchers (13)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
20687 |
PhD Barbara Artnik |
Medical sciences |
Head |
2018 - 2020 |
159 |
| 2. |
50827 |
Jona Blatnik |
Stomatology |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
23 |
| 3. |
50828 |
Maja Cilenšek |
Stomatology |
Researcher |
2018 - 2019 |
0 |
| 4. |
32573 |
PhD Janet Klara Djomba |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2018 - 2019 |
90 |
| 5. |
18079 |
PhD Martina Drevenšek |
Stomatology |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
208 |
| 6. |
19210 |
PhD Rok Gašperšič |
Stomatology |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
255 |
| 7. |
11637 |
PhD Mojca Juričić |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
148 |
| 8. |
19091 |
PhD Rok Kosem |
Stomatology |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
136 |
| 9. |
30640 |
PhD Andreja Kukec |
Medical sciences |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
372 |
| 10. |
36617 |
Anja Magajna |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
44 |
| 11. |
38417 |
Martin Ranfl |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
108 |
| 12. |
28396 |
PhD Katja Rostohar |
Mathematics |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
69 |
| 13. |
38419 |
Metka Zaletel |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2018 - 2020 |
263 |
Organisations (3)
Abstract
Background. In Slovenia we had a good reporting system on caries prevalence till the end of the 20th century. According to current epidemiological data, the organized system for oral health care of children and adolescents in Slovenia with focus on preventive activity, produced favourable trends of oral health indicators of children and adolescents especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Data from the last longitudinal study in 2013 show that the value of DMFT in 12-year-olds was 1,9 and the share of 12-year-olds without caries was 36%. This study included a relatively small sample (N=260) but it represents the only data on caries prevalence in Slovenia. There are no available data for other age groups and for prevalence of other oral diseases in Slovenia on national level.
The EGOHID (European Global Oral Health Indicators Development Project) expert group prepared a selection of 40 indicators for monitoring oral health. These indicators were also confirmed for the use in Slovenia by the professional board for dental medicine in June 2012.
The non-clinical part of EGOHID indicators enables a thorough and broad insight in some aspects of oral health in Slovenia, especially the aspects of attitudes, habits and opinions towards oral health, but also on the success of oral health promoting programmes.
Clinical indicators of EGOHID project represent an important contribution in monitoring oral health in Slovenia as well. The most commonly used index for monitoring oral health is DMFS (decayed-missing-filled surface of the tooth) or DMFT (decayed-missing-filled teeth), but it overlooks caries lesion activity and does not include the initiative non-cavitated carious lesions. WHO methodology does not define the presence of caries until the carious lesion is cavitated. Knowledge on caries etiology led to the development of different systems for validating its presence. To make caries detection uniform and consequently to be able to compare its data, ICDAS (International Caries Detection and Assessment System) was developed. It is based on new knowledge and it evaluates the activity and progression of carious lesion. This system enables monitoring oral health condition based on new science discoveries and at the same time maintains comparison to other countries and past studies. The results of ICDAS can be converted into index DMFS/DMFT by the WHO system, but the inverse conversion is not possible. Furthermore, the adjustment of the evaluation system is recommended by experts with years of experience in the field of oral health.
Aiming to establish a continuous monitoring of oral health indicators, the researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ljubljana and the National Institute of Public performed a pilot study in 2014, with inquiry of adults, children, adolescents and oral health providers. This was the first part of monitoring oral health indicators.
All three EGOHID survey questionnaires were translated into Slovene (for adults, children, adolescents and oral health providers), and the translation was validated by the means of two-sided blind translation. We tested the questionnaires in a pilot study including adults, children, adolescents and oral health providers. The results of the pilot study showed that the described method of collecting oral health indicators is feasible and appropriate for the establishment of data collection of oral health indicators on a representative population sample on a national level.
A detailed knowledge on oral health condition from the view point of non-clinical and clinical indicators is the basic prerequisite for establishing a strategy for improvement of oral health, modelling and monitoring interventions. Knowledge on these indicators gives a foundation for modelling national strategies, for promoting oral health, forming objectives, modelling oriented interventions and monitoring of their efficiency.
Understanding the ethology of oral disease and the interaction between oral a
Significance for science
As far as we can assess based on existing epidemiological data, the organized system of dental care for children and adolescents with an emphasis on preventive activities has contributed to a favourable trend of indicators of oral health of children and adolescents in Slovenia, especially in the last decades of the last century. In the recent period, the indicators of oral health of children and adolescents have stagnated. There are no available data for other age groups and for prevalence of other oral diseases in Slovenia on national level. Therefore, the implementation of the proposed research is indispensable to obtain scientific and professional evidence of the status of oral health at the national level.
The results of the research will significantly contribute to the development of scientific and professional background in the field of oral health, they will contribute to better monitoring of oral health and better quality of dental care. Establishing methodological approaches for monitoring indicators with the EGOHID methodology will improve the knowledge on Slovenes oral health and their attitude towards oral health, which will make it easier to design appropriate and effective (preventive and educational) programs for improving oral health and the related quality of life.
Experts and scientists from different fields will be reached by publishing research findings in professional and scientific publications, conferences and expert meetings. The findings will be presented in the form of a report, methodological recommendations for the implementation of clinical research at national level and professional backgrounds for oral health education.
Significance for the country
Research shows that oral health is an important integral part of general health. Insufficient care for oral health can lead to various health outcomes: from chronic diseases, poor quality of life and, and last but not least, to greater absenteeism and thus to the burden to the economy and the healthcare system.
The obtained results will be an important contribution for economy sector in terms of better awareness of the population about oral health and related risk factors, and consequently reducing the burden of disease, improving the quality of life and ultimately reducing costs in the healthcare system.
An additional direct economic contribution is the establishment of a methodological approach to improving oral health monitoring and ensuring better quality of dental care and contributing to a more efficient and reliable data collection in the European region. We will also continue to pursue our goals in the oral health strategy for 2020, created under the lead of the World Health Organization (WHO) in cooperation with the World Dental Federation (FDI) and the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).
The development of indicators that measure the quality of life will also improve dental care, as knowledge of the relationship between the actual state of oral health and self-assessment is important for the planning of therapeutic measures and the health care of particularly vulnerable population groups, such as children and adolescents, which is a long-term economic benefit.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2018,
2019,
final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2018,
2019,
final report
