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Effect of Secular Decline in Caries on the Evaluation of Preventive Dentistry Demonstrations *
Author(s) -
Bohannan Harry M.,
Graves Richard C.,
Disney Judith A.,
Stamm John W.,
Abernathy James B.,
Bader James D.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.1985.tb01943.x
Subject(s) - medicine , dentistry , psychological intervention , longitudinal study , gerontology , nursing , pathology
Studies of dental preventive interventions often do not incorporate a concurrent, longitudinal control group in their study design. The existence of a secular decline in dental caries during the conduct of these studies may result in an overstatement of the effectiveness of the preventive intervention. Results of a recent large caries preventive study are analyzed using both a concurrent, longitudinal control group and an historical comparison group to demonstrate this effect. Differences in effectiveness of preventive procedures determined using the two types of control groups are sufficient to suggest a probable misinterpretation of results of studies using only historical comparisons.