June 20, 2023
The National Center for Health Research (NCHR) appreciates the opportunity to submit public comments on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Draft Recommendation Statement on Screening and Preventive Interventions for Oral Health in Adults.
NCHR is a non-profit think tank that conducts, analyzes, and scrutinizes research on a range of health issues, with particular focus on which prevention strategies and treatments are most effective for which patients and consumers. We do not accept funding from companies that make products that are the subject of our work, so we have no conflicts of interest.
We agree with the recommendation of the USPSTF that there is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of routine screening performed by primary care clinicians for oral health conditions, including dental caries or periodontal-related disease, in adults. Evidence on the accuracy of the primary care oral health exam was limited and there were significant limitations on the data that was included in the evidence review (e.g. oral health preventive interventions were administered by dental professionals with uncertain applicability and feasibility in primary care; there was minimal or no evidence on screening and preventive interventions; most studies of preventive interventions had serious methodological limitations; there was an uncertain generalizability of older studies or studies conducted in resource-poor settings to current U.S. practice.)
We agree that new research is needed to determine the benefits and harms of screening, primary care counseling, dental referral, and oral health preventive interventions administered in primary care settings for adults.