Impact and cost of public health nurse telephone follow-up of school dental referrals

Abstract

The effect and cost of nursing follow-up services on school dental screening outcomes were investigated. Experimental and control groups were randomly assigned. A positive difference in dental visit rate occurred for all nurses, with the overall detist visit-no-visit, experimental-control odds ratio being 1.64 (95% CL = 1.15, 2.35). The service averaged 27.7 minutes and $8.92 per family contacted, suggesting that nursing follow-up increased dental care utilization after screening at low cost in this population.