An International Research Agenda for Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies
Abstract
The GLOBICS—Global Consortium of Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies (OHBCS)—is a long-lasting international collaborative research group among existing OHBCS, established in response to the Lancet Series on Oral Health, which pointed out the need to shift the global oral health agenda. This study aimed to identify priority research questions from OHBCS that can be leveraged to improve children’s global oral health. A 2-phase online Delphi process sought consensus over research priorities for OHBCS. Participants were identified by mapping existing OHBCS. Fourteen research questions were grouped into 4 thematic areas. A 9-point Likert-type scale was applied. Consensus was achieved if the question had (1) at least 51% of participants scoring a research question as “high priority,” (2) an interquartile range of <2.5, and (3) a standard deviation of <1.7 or 75% of responses falling between 2 points above and below the mean score. Forty-four of 114 participants completed the Delphi survey. The 8 research priorities identified included questions about the effect of childhood dental visits on oral health throughout life ( n = 2), questions related to sugar consumption and dental caries in childhood and adolescence ( n = 4), infant growth and dental diseases ( n = 1), and whether socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries are mitigated by fluoride exposure ( n = 1). Guided by expert insight, the priorities identified for future OHBCS research should leverage a life course perspective to address knowledge gaps in children’s oral health and oral health equity.
Related
- Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies: Achievements, Challenges, and Potential
- Brain network-based stratification of mental health disorders: design and cohort description of the STRATIFY and ESTRA studies
- Measuring sugar intake in oral health birth cohort studies: a scoping review
- The Global Consortium of Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies—GLOBICS
- Scoping Review of Oral Health-Related Birth Cohort Studies: Toward a Global Consortium
BibTeX
@article{peres2026international,
title = {{An International Research Agenda for Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies}},
author = {K.G. Peres and A.C. Kalhan and S. Sarawagi and M.A. Peres and C.A. Feldens and B.W. Chaffee and A.J.D. Barros and A. Rugg-Gunn and G.G. Nascimento},
journal = {Journal of Dental Research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1177/00220345241286869},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05791940v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - An International Research Agenda for Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies
AU - K.G. Peres
AU - A.C. Kalhan
AU - S. Sarawagi
AU - M.A. Peres
AU - C.A. Feldens
AU - B.W. Chaffee
AU - A.J.D. Barros
AU - A. Rugg-Gunn
AU - G.G. Nascimento
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/11
JO - Journal of Dental Research
DO - 10.1177/00220345241286869
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05791940v1
AB - The GLOBICS—Global Consortium of Oral Health Birth Cohort Studies (OHBCS)—is a long-lasting international collaborative research group among existing OHBCS, established in response to the Lancet Series on Oral Health, which pointed out the need to shift the global oral health agenda. This study aimed to identify priority research questions from OHBCS that can be leveraged to improve children’s global oral health. A 2-phase online Delphi process sought consensus over research priorities for OHBCS. Participants were identified by mapping existing OHBCS. Fourteen research questions were grouped into 4 thematic areas. A 9-point Likert-type scale was applied. Consensus was achieved if the question had (1) at least 51% of participants scoring a research question as “high priority,” (2) an interquartile range of <2.5, and (3) a standard deviation of <1.7 or 75% of responses falling between 2 points above and below the mean score. Forty-four of 114 participants completed the Delphi survey. The 8 research priorities identified included questions about the effect of childhood dental visits on oral health throughout life ( n = 2), questions related to sugar consumption and dental caries in childhood and adolescence ( n = 4), infant growth and dental diseases ( n = 1), and whether socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries are mitigated by fluoride exposure ( n = 1). Guided by expert insight, the priorities identified for future OHBCS research should leverage a life course perspective to address knowledge gaps in children’s oral health and oral health equity.
SN - 0022-0345
ER -