Screening and Preventive Interventions for Oral Health in Children and Adolescents Aged 5 to 17 Years

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening and preventive interventions for oral health conditions in non-dental primary care settings. This finding applies to children and adolescents ages 5 to 17 years without signs or symptoms of oral health conditions like dental caries.

More research is needed to:

• Assess the effectiveness and harms of primary care–based oral health screening strategies on oral health outcomes
• Determine the diagnostic accuracy of oral health examinations and risk assessment tools in a primary care setting
• Develop primary care–based oral health risk assessment tools to accurately identify children and adolescents at increased risk of oral health conditions
• Assess the effectiveness and harms of preventive interventions in a primary care setting
• Identify the effectiveness of strategies to improve quality of life, function, or other clinically important oral health outcomes

Research should focus on screening and preventive interventions that can be performed in primary care settings and be inclusive of populations with a high prevalence of oral health conditions, including Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native American/Alaska Native, and Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander people and people with social determinants that contribute to disparities in oral health.