Children at Risk and Oral Health, The Dental Record Study

The objectives of this retrospective dental record study, are to increase knowledge of the oral health, - history and -needs of children enrolled at the Childrens Advocacy Centers (CAC)by:

• assessing if it is possible to identify oral indicators of child maltreatment.
• assessing if and to what degree the children enrolled at CAC are in need of close, adapted and trauma sensitive treatment and follow up at the Public Dental Health Service (PDHS)
• assessing if there is a need for new routines in terms of interdisciplinary collaboration and sharing of information between CAC, Child Welfare Services (CWS) and PDHP.

By increasing knowledge in regard to child maltreatment and oral health, the study will raise PDHS and CAC ability to prevent, detect and help children being victims of maltreatment, and contribute to strengthen PDHS, CAC and CWS interdisciplinary interaction for the benefit of children at risk.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Child Abuse; Child Neglect; Child Maltreatment

Detailed Description

The combination of the CAC and the organization of the PDHS in Norway with regular summoning of all children up to 18 years, provides a unique opportunity to identify children at risk and study their oral health and history in a retrospective perspective. Retrospective dental record data will be collected from the public dental health records of children, aged 0-18 when enrolled at CAC, and a control group matched by gender and age.

In addition to increase knowledge of the oral health, and - history, the dental record data will also provide information regarding the PDHS 's ability to detect, follow up and interact with children at risk and to which degree interdisciplinary cooperation between the CAC, the child welfare service and the PDHS takes place and are functioning.

By using already existing data from the childrens dental records at the public dental health service the study will gain new and important knowledge, without adding further burden to the children and families.

The Ethical committee REK Vest, has approved the study and permitted that the study will be conducted without an informed consent from the parents and children being enrolled. In order to secure that the research project is in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), identify, evaluate and negating the risks of the personal data being collected, A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) has been conducted.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 2400

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ingfrid Vaksdal Brattabø, PhD; Phone Number: +47 92487155; Email: ingfrid.vaksdal.brattabo@vlfk.no
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Karin Goplerud Berge, PhD; Email: karin.goplerud.berge@vlfk.no

Study Locations

• Norway
  • Vestland
    • Bergen, Vestland, Norway, 5865
      • Recruiting
      • Oral Health Centre of Expertice Western Norway
      • Contact: Ingfrid V Brattabø, PhD; Phone Number: +47 92487155; Email: ingfrid.vaksdal.brattabo@vlfk.no
      • Contact: Karin G Berge, PhD; Phone Number: +47 98407778; Email: karin.goplerud.berge@vlfk.no

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 second to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Children being between 0-18 years old at the time they are enrolled at CAC, and a matched controllgroup.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children enrolled at CAC
• Control group matched by age and gender

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with developmental disorders that affect oral health
• Children with mental retardation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Children enrolled at CAC; Information regarding oral health will be gathered from the public dental health records of children enrolled at CAC.
Children not enrolled at CAC; Information regarding oral health will be gathered from the public dental health records of children that have not been enrolled at CAC. This is a control group, matched by age and gender.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Oral health and history	Assess if there are differences in oral health and history between children enrolled at CAC and the control group	2022-2024

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Need for facilitated dental treatment and follow up in the PDHS	Assess if and which needs children have is in regard to oral health, facilitated dental treatment in the PDHS, interdisciplinary collaboration and follow up. Are there differences between the two groups?	2022-2024

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Western Norway
• Collaborators: Oral Health Center of Expertise Rogaland, Norway; Childrens advocacy center Bergen Norway; The public dental health service Vestland Norway
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ingfrid Vaksdal Brattabø, PhD, Oral Health Centre of Expertice, Western Norway

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 5, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 21, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 17, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): January 14, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 12, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Detection; Prevention; Oral health; Collaboration; Dental health service; Childrens advocacy center
• Other Study ID Numbers: Children at risk

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No