5.1 Effective Program Operations
Targeting Populations
Targeting Schools
For programs, the objective of targeting is to provide sealants to the largest possible number of children at higher risk for dental caries. Targeting programs to populations has been shown to be more cost-effective than targeting them to specific children based on oral health status, and the former is easier to implement. National data show that, compared with children from families with higher incomes, children from families with low incomes are at higher risk for experiencing dental caries and for having untreated caries are less likely to have dental sealants, and are less likely to have a dental visit in a year.
During the 2004–2005 school year in Ohio, children in third grade who were at higher risk for dental caries and who attended schools with sealant programs were more than twice as likely to have sealants as their counterparts at schools with no programs (59 percent vs. 29 percent). The school-eligibility threshold at that time was > 50 percent student enrollment in Free and Reduced Price Meals (FRPM) program.
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