Oral health: local authorities and partners

Gaps in the evidence

The Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) identified a number of gaps in the evidence related to the programmes under examination based on an assessment of the evidence. These gaps are set out below.

1. There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of community based oral health improvement programmes that aim to promote, improve, and maintain the oral health of adult populations.

2. There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of community based oral health improvement programmes that aim to promote, improve, and maintain the oral health of groups of people considered at high risk for poor dental health such as people who are homeless, gypsies and travellers, people with mobility difficulties and people with learning disabilities.

3. There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of individual intervention components within effective multi-component community oral health promotion interventions; and a lack of research on what combinations of components can best improve oral health.

4. There is a lack of primary research evaluating the impact of oral health needs assessments on service delivery, whether actions identified in them become part of an oral health strategy and so lead to changes in service delivery and/or practice.

5. There is a lack of data on the oral health needs of people at high risk of poor oral health to inform oral health needs assessments.

6. There is a lack of evidence on the effect of supervised tooth-brushing schemes for children on the tooth-brushing behaviour of other family members.

7. Research on UK community-based oral health programmes and interventions tend not to provide outcome measures that include periodontal health outcomes or measures that reflect oral health related quality of life.

8. There is a lack of longitudinal research exploring the effectiveness of community-based oral health programmes and interventions on preventing oral cancers.

9. There is a lack of information provided on the set-up and delivery costs of community-based oral health improvement programmes that aim to promote, improve, and maintain the oral health of local communities.