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Randomized Controlled Trials in Dental Public Health

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Randomized Controlled Trials in Evidence-Based Dentistry

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Abstract

Dental public health (DPH) is the science and art of preventing and controlling dental diseases and promoting dental health through organized community efforts. Some themes, such as sugar, fluoride, and dental sealants, are central to DPH and were the focus of clinical, field, and community intervention trials. We selected some of them in order to illustrate the importance of the epidemiological experimental studies for DPH. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) should focus on outcomes that are clinically relevant to patients instead of surrogate outcomes. When reporting the results of RCTs, authors should use absolute numbers, report the base rate and avoid relative measures, such as the prevented fraction. All types of RCTs play an important role in DPH; however, community intervention trials are better suited for addressing questions related to population health. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics was won by three economists who used RCTs to determine how best to lift people out of poverty and improve their health. This is an excellent illustration of the power of the RCT to investigate the effectiveness of public policies and should serve as an inspiration for DPH researchers.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Alternatively, the control group may represent not the natural history of the disease, but the history of the disease in a similar group who is receiving another intervention, usually the standard intervention (standard care).

  2. 2.

    Cost-effectiveness = ratio of the difference in costs between two interventions (incremental costs) and difference in the effects (incremental effects) between them [20]. It expresses how much more it is paid, comparing the intervention with the control group, in order to avoid one event of an undesirable outcome (one episode of dental pain, a loss of a tooth or a new cavitated dentine lesion, e.g.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Paulo Nadanovsky

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Paulo Nadanovsky

  3. Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Ana Paula Pires dos Santos

  4. Division of Dental Public Health, School of Dentistry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Richie Kohli

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  1. Paulo Nadanovsky
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  2. Ana Paula Pires dos Santos
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  3. Richie Kohli
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Correspondence to Paulo Nadanovsky .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Dental Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Richie Kohli

  2. Division of Periodontology, Department of Regenerative and Reconstructive Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Harjit S. Sehgal

  3. University of Washington, SEATTLE, WA, USA

    Peter Milgrom

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Nadanovsky, P., dos Santos, A.P.P., Kohli, R. (2024). Randomized Controlled Trials in Dental Public Health. In: Kohli, R., Sehgal, H.S., Milgrom, P. (eds) Randomized Controlled Trials in Evidence-Based Dentistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47651-8_3

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