Dental Service Provision and Oral Health Conditions of Children Aged 0–12 Years, Northern Thailand: Transferring of Sub-District Health Promotion Hospitals Policy Era
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Research Methodology
2.2. Population and Sample
2.3. Research Instruments
2.4. Data Source and Data Collection Process
- -
- Oral health examination (Procedure code: 2330011)/Diagnosis code: Z01.2
- -
- Topical fluoride application (procedure codes: 2377020, 2377021)/diagnosis codes: K02.0 (initial caries) and K03.8 (other specified diseases of the hard tissues of teeth)
- -
- Pit and fissure sealant application on permanent teeth (procedure codes: 2387030, 238703A, 238703B, 238703C, 238703D, 238703E, 238703F, 238703G, 238703H)/diagnosis codes: K02.0 (initial caries) and K02.3 (arrested dental caries)
2.5. Data Analysis
- 1.
- Analysis of dental services and oral health conditions
- 2.
- Comparison of dental services and oral health conditions between transferred and non-transferred SHPHs. Trends were visualized using graphs. Statistical analysis included the Chi-square test and unpaired t-test to identify differences between the groups.
2.6. Research Ethics
3. Results
3.1. Comparison of Dental Services for Children Aged 0–12 Years
3.2. Comparison of Oral Health Conditions for Children Aged 0–12 Years
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
AAPC | Average annual percent change |
APC | Age-period-cohort |
ASIR | Age-standardized incidence rate |
CUP | Contracting unit for primary care |
EAPC | Estimated annual percent change |
HPH | Health-promoting hospital |
IOC | Index of item objective congruence |
LAO | Local administrative organization |
MOPH | Ministry of Public Health |
PAO | Provincial administrative organization |
PCU | Primary care unit |
SHPH | Sub-district health promotion hospital |
STATA | A multicore version of the STATA software |
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Province | Transfer status | Setting | Size | Population in the Area of Responsibility (People) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kamphaeng Phet | Transferred | SHPH A | S | 2632 |
Non-transferred | SHPH B | S | 2482 | |
Chiang Rai | Transferred | SHPH C | M | 3816 |
Non-transferred | SHPH D | M | 5410 | |
Chiang Mai | Transferred | SHPH E | M | 6753 |
Non-transferred | SHPH F | M | 7518 | |
Tak | Transferred | SHPH G | M | 4545 |
Non-transferred | SHPH H | M | 4781 | |
Nan | Transferred | SHPH I | M | 3861 |
Non-transferred | SHPH J | M | 3842 | |
Phitsanulok | Transferred | SHPH K | L | 10,146 |
Non-transferred | SHPH L | L | 13,802 |
General Context | Status | p-Value | |
---|---|---|---|
Transferred SHPH Group (Mean, SD) | Non-Transferred SHPH Group (Mean, SD) | ||
Distance from network hospital (kilometers) | 10.6 ± 4.7 | 10.1 ± 4.7 | 0.871 # |
Population in the responsible area (people) | 5320.0 ± 2604.5 | 5320.0 ± 2604.5 | 0.632 # |
Schools in the responsible area (institutions) | 3.5 ± 1.0 | 3.0 ± 1.1 | 0.438 # |
Child Development Centers in the responsible area (centers) | 1.3 ± 1.2 | 1.8 ± 1.8 | 0.484 # |
Positions of Dental Health Personnel (persons) | Number (%) | Number (%) | 1.000 ## |
Dental Public Health Practitioner | 2 (33.3%) | 1 (16.7%) | |
Senior Dental Public Health Practitioner | 4 (66.7%) | 4 (66.6%) | |
Public Health Academic Officer | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (16.7%) |
Dental Services | SHPH Status | Number of People Receiving Dental Services by Year (Persons) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Mean | ||
Oral health examinations for children aged 0–12 years | Transferred | 1929 | 3061 | 3765 | 2881 | 2306 | 2788.4 |
Non-transferred | 2722 | 3284 | 4711 | 3197 | 1341 | 3051.0 | |
Provision of topical fluoride application services for children aged 0-5 years | Transferred | 601 | 1088 | 1014 | 1015 | 446 | 832.8 |
Non-transferred | 1543 | 1405 | 1346 | 1201 | 720 | 1243.0 | |
Sealant for permanent teeth for children aged 6 years | Transferred | 46 | 181 | 186 | 252 | 28 | 138.6 |
Non-transferred | 236 | 235 | 208 | 336 | 199 | 242.8 |
Oral Health Conditions by Children Age | SHPH Status | Year | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Mean | ||
Prevalence of dental caries (%) | |||||||
3 years # | Transferred | 38.2 | 39.4 | 27.1 | 28.4 | 27.0 | 31.3 |
Non-transferred | 26.9 | 23.0 | 26.2 | 8.1 | 17.0 | 22.2 | |
5 years # | Transferred | 28.8 | 47.4 | 56.7 | 62.4 | 70.1 | 51.2 |
Non-transferred | 25.1 | 39.1 | 37.1 | 25.6 | 13.5 | 30.7 | |
12 years ## | Transferred | 28.9 | 29.4 | 31.7 | 57.8 | 44.6 | 37.1 |
Non-transferred | 37.2 | 27.3 | 21.1 | 34.5 | 29.6 | 30.0 | |
The average number of decayed, filled, or extracted teeth (teeth per person) | |||||||
3 years # | Transferred | 2.1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
Non-transferred | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 | |
5 years # | Transferred | 1.4 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 2.6 |
Non-transferred | 1.9 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.3 | |
12 years ## | Transferred | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
Non-transferred | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
Oral Health Conditions | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|
Transferred Group | Non-Transferred Group | ||
Prevalence of dental caries | Number (%) | Number (%) | p-Value |
Children aged 3 years | <0.001 # | ||
Number of people with detected dental caries | 188 (31.3%) | 187 (22.2%) | |
Number of people without dental caries | 412 (68.7%) | 655 (77.8%) | |
Children aged 5 years | <0.001 # | ||
Number of children with detected dental caries | 283 (51.2%) | 219 (30.7%) | |
Number of children without dental caries | 270 (48.8%) | 495 (69.3%) | |
Children aged 12 years | 0.009 # | ||
Number of children with detected dental caries | 208 (37.1%) | 204 (30.0%) | |
Number of children without dental caries | 353 (62.9%) | 475 (70.0%) | |
The average number of decayed, filled, or extracted teeth (teeth per person) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | diffmean ## (95% CI) |
Children aged 3 years (primary teeth/baby teeth) | 1.4 (2.3) | 0.9 (1.9) | 0.5 (0.3 to 0.7) |
Children aged 5 years (primary teeth/baby teeth) | 2.6 (2.8) | 2.3 (4.0) | 0.3 (−0.1 to 0.7) |
Children aged 12 years (permanent teeth/adult teeth) | 1.0 (1.4) | 0.7 (1.5) | 0.3 (0.1 to 0.5) |
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Singweratham, N.; Fuengkhajorn, A.; Wungrath, J.; Siewchaisakul, P. Dental Service Provision and Oral Health Conditions of Children Aged 0–12 Years, Northern Thailand: Transferring of Sub-District Health Promotion Hospitals Policy Era. Healthcare 2025, 13, 874. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13080874
Singweratham N, Fuengkhajorn A, Wungrath J, Siewchaisakul P. Dental Service Provision and Oral Health Conditions of Children Aged 0–12 Years, Northern Thailand: Transferring of Sub-District Health Promotion Hospitals Policy Era. Healthcare. 2025; 13(8):874. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13080874
Chicago/Turabian StyleSingweratham, Noppcha, Anon Fuengkhajorn, Jukkrit Wungrath, and Pallop Siewchaisakul. 2025. "Dental Service Provision and Oral Health Conditions of Children Aged 0–12 Years, Northern Thailand: Transferring of Sub-District Health Promotion Hospitals Policy Era" Healthcare 13, no. 8: 874. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13080874
APA StyleSingweratham, N., Fuengkhajorn, A., Wungrath, J., & Siewchaisakul, P. (2025). Dental Service Provision and Oral Health Conditions of Children Aged 0–12 Years, Northern Thailand: Transferring of Sub-District Health Promotion Hospitals Policy Era. Healthcare, 13(8), 874. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13080874