Dental professionals participating in a home visiting programme for first-time parents

Abstract

Background: A home visiting programme was offered to first-time parents in the south of Sweden to reduce health inequalities among young children and support parents. The programme involved a collaboration between child healthcare nurses and midwives, social workers, and dental hygienists/dental nurses. It is unusual for dental professionals to participate in such programmes. Objective: To describe the experiences of collaboration between child healthcare nurses and dental professionals and their views on the programme from a dental perspective. Basic Research Design: Qualitative semi-structured interview study with content analysis. Participants: Four child healthcare nurses, three dental hygienists, and two dental nurses. Results: Analysis identified five themes: contribution of knowledge, reinforced oral health advice, family-based oral health advice, financial considerations, and future role of the dental care. Conclusions: Participants stressed the importance of dental professionals’ knowledge, the need for child healthcare nurses and dental professional to conduct home visits together to deliver family-based and reinforced dental advice. They suggested a follow-up visit and the participation of the public dental service before a private dental care provider since most children will visit a public dentist later. The programme was perceived as worth the costs, but for the best utility, the resources should primarily be for non-native parents. Further research should focus on the effect of the home visiting programme on the children’s oral health.