Medical evaluation before dental treatment important as parent-reported health history unreliable in dental setting

A retrospective chart review was conducted on 863 patients 17 years and younger. Parent-reported health history was compared with subsequent physician-to-dentist consultations. The most common diagnoses were grouped on the basis of International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, categories.

Results

• The sensitivity of parent report of health conditions was highest for reporting mental and behavioral disorders followed by nervous system diseases, respiratory conditions congenital conditions and cardiovascular conditions was lowest for hematologic conditions
• Parents of children 6 years and older and those with private insurance had higher sensitivity for reporting mental and behavioral conditions than those with children younger than 6 years or having Medicaid (P < .0001).
• The specificity of parent-reported health conditions ranged from 96.0% for mental and behavioral disorders to 99.8% for hematologic conditions.

Sensitivity varied widely, showing that parents may be unreliable in their report of children's health histories and that dentists cannot rely solely on parents when obtaining health history.

Practical Implications

In advocating for patient safety, especially for those with special needs and complex medical conditions, this study supports the use of medical evaluation before dental treatment and for the integration of dental and electronic health records.

Reference:

Christine Chiao, Abidin H. Tuncer, Mike Jin, Jayapriyaa R. Shanmugham, Keri E. Discepolo. Accuracy of parent-reported health history in a dental setting. The Journal of the American Dental Association Published: September 01, 2022,DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2022.07.007