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Volume 2: No.
4, October 2005
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Reducing
Dental Sealant Disparities in School-aged Children Through Better Targeting of
Informational Campaigns and Public Provision of Sealants [Response to
Letter]
Suggested citation for this article: Jones K. Reducing
dental sealant disparities in school-aged children through better targeting of
informational campaigns and public provision of sealants [response to
letter]. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2005 Oct [date cited].
Available from: URL: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/
oct/05_0110.htm.
In Reply:
On behalf of my coauthors and myself, I would like to thank Dr Bolin for
initiating a discussion of dental sealants (1) and encouraging us to expand
our comments beyond those conveyed in our abstract (2). The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention promotes school-based and other publicly
provided sealant campaigns, because it is recognized that children from
lower-income families often lack access to, and means to pay for, dental care.
These programs generally target low-income children; most of these
school-based programs have minimum thresholds for percentage of the school’s
students on free and reduced-cost lunch. Where they exist, these programs have been
successful at sealing teeth among low-income children and reducing disparities; we found
no significant difference in the nationwide prevalence of sealants among
low-income white, black, and Hispanic children. However, many of these
programs’ administrators have reported both having difficulties gaining
access to schools and missing opportunities to seal the teeth of a significant number of
children because of unreturned permission slips. Thus, we suggest that
educating school administrators and parents about the benefits of dental
sealants will increase participation in public programs, thereby decreasing
dental health disparities in children. We agree with Dr Bolin’s point and hope to
see more public support for school sealant programs targeting low-income
children.
Kari Jones, PhD
Research Economist
National Center for Health Marketing, Division of Public–Private Partnerships, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Atlanta, Ga
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References
- Bolin KA.
Cost as a
prohibitive factor on effectiveness of informational campaigns to reduce
dental sealant disparities [letter to the editor]. Prev Chronic Dis
[serial online] 2005 Jul [cited 2005 Jun 16].
- Jones K, Griffin S,
Moonesinghe R, Jaramillo F, Vousden C.
Reducing
dental sealant disparities in school-aged children through better targeting of
informational campaigns [abstract]. Prev Chronic Dis [serial online] 2005
Apr [cited 2005 Jun 16].
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