Research Publications

Below are a list of some of the publications relating to the Childsmile Programme:

Childsmile National Headline Reports

Published papers

Please note that some of these published papers may not be freely available. You may only have access to Abstract – a fee or subscription may be necessary to view the full article.

2023

Evaluating childsmile, Scotland’s National Oral Health Improvement Programme for children
AJ.Ross, A.Sherriff, J.Kidd, L.Deas, J.Eaves, A.Blockland, B.Wright, P.King, AD.McMahon, DI.Conway, LMD.Macpherson,
Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology 2023; Vol 51

2019

Childsmile after 10 Years. Part 1: Background, theory and principles
LMD.Macpherson, J.Rodgers, DI.Conway
Dental Update 2019; 46: 113-116.

Childsmile after 10 Years. Part 2: Programme development, implementation and evaluation
LMD.Macpherson, J.Rodgers, DI.Conway
Dental Update 2019; 46:238-246.

2018

The effectiveness of Dental Health Support Workers at linking families with primary care dental practices: a population-wide data linkage cohort study
F.Hodgins, A.Sherriff, W.Gnich, AJ.Ross, LMD.Macpherson
BMC Oral Health, 2018, 18:191

A mixed-methods feasibility study protocol to assess the communication behaviours within the dental health professional-parent-child triad in a general dental practice setting 
S.Yuan, G.Humphris, AJ.Ross, LMD.Macpherson, Y.Zhou, R.Freeman
Pilot and Feasibility Studies 2018, 4:136.

The effect of introducing a financial incentive to promote application of fluoride varnish in dental practice in Scotland: a natural experiment 
W.Gnich, A.Sherriff, D.Bonetti, DI.Conway, LMD.Macpherson
Implementation Science 2018 13:95

A systems approach using the functional resonance analysis method to support fluoride varnish application for children attending general dental practice 
AJ.Ross, A.Sherriff, J.Kidd, W.Gnich, J.Anderson, L.Deas, LMD.Macpherson
Applied Ergonomics 68 (2018) 294–303

2017

Linking routinely collected social work, education, and health data to enable monitoring of the health and healthcare of school aged children in state care (‘looked after children’) in Scotland: a national demonstration project 
D.Clark, A.King, K.Sharpe, G.Connelly, L.Elliott, LMD.Macpherson, AD.McMahon, I.Milligan, P.Wilson, DI.Conway, R.Wood
Public Health 2017. 150: 101-111.

Inequalities in the dental health needs and access to dental services amongst Looked After Children in Scotland: a population data-linkage study (external site).
AD.McMahon, L.Elliott, LMD.Macpherson, KH.Sharpe, G.Connelly, I.Milligan, P.Wilson, D.Clark, A.King, R.Wood, DI.Conway
Archives of Disease in Childhood 2017;0:1–5.

Linking families with pre-school children from healthcare services to community resources: a systematic review protocol 
J.Burns, DI.Conway, W.Gnich, LMD.Macpherson.
Systematic Reviews 2017 6:50

2016

How lay health workers tailor in effective health behaviour change interventions: a protocol for a systematic review 
F.Hodgins, W.Gnich, AJ.Ross, A.Sherriff, H.Worlledge-Andrew
Systematic Reviews 2016 5:102

Patient-, organization-, and system-level barriers and facilitators to preventive oral health care: a convergent mixed-methods study in primary dental care 
AR.Templeton, L.Young, A.Bish, W.Gnich, H.Cassie, S.Treweek, D.Bonetti, D.Stirling, LMD.Macpherson, S.McCann, J.Clarkson,
C.Ramsay and the PMC study team.
Implementation Science, Volume 11, Number 5. January 2016.

2015

Comparison of the caries-protective effect of fluoride varnish with treatment as usual in nursery school attendees receiving preventive oral health support through the Childsmile oral health improvement programme — The Protecting Teeth@3 Study: a randomised controlled trial 

W.Wright, S.Turner, Y.Anopa, E.McIntosh, O.Wu, DI.Conway, LMD.Macpherson, AD.McMahon
BMC Oral Health 2015. 15:160.

Childsmile: The Child Oral Health Improvement Programme in Scotland 
LMD.Macpherson, GE.Ball, P.King, K.Chalmers, W.Gnich.
Primary Dental Journal, Volume 4, Number 4, pp 33-37. November 2015.

Improving Child Oral Health: Cost Analysis of a National Nursery Toothbrushing Programme 
Y. Anopa, AD.McMahon, DI Conway, GE.Ball, E.McIntosh, LMD.Macpherson
PLOS One, Volume 10, Number 8. August 2015.

Elimination of ‘the Glasgow effect’ in levels of dental caries in Scotland’s five-year-old children: 10 cross-sectional surveys (1994–2012) 
YI.Blair, AD.McMahon, W.Gnich, DI.Conway, LMD.Macpherson
BMC Public Health, Volume 15, Number 212. March 2015.

Use of the theoretical domains framework to further understanding of what influences application of fluoride varnish to children’s teeth: a national survey of general dental practitioners in Scotland 
W.Gnich, D.Bonetti, A.Sherriff, S.Sharma, DI.Conway, LMD.Macpherson
Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, Volume 43, Number 3, pp 272 – 281. February, 2015.

2014

Extending dental nurses’ duties: a national survey investigating skill-mix in Scotland’s child oral health improvement programme (Childsmile) 
W.Gnich, L.Deas, S.Mackenzie, J.Burns, DI.Conway
BMC Oral Health, Volume 14, Number 137. November, 2014.

2013

Applying an ecological model to social marketing communications
A.Lindridge, S.MacAskill, W.Gnich, D.Eadie, I.Holme
European Journal of Marketing, Volume 49, Number 9, pp 1399-1420. 2013.

Intelligent policy making? Key actors’ perspectives on the development and implementation of an early years’ initiative in Scotland’s public health arena 
L.Deas, L.Mattu, W.Gnich
Social Science and Medicine, Volume 96, pp 1-8. November, 2013.

Can programme theory be used as a ‘translational tool’ to optimise health service delivery in a national early years’ initiative in Scotland: a case study 
J.Eaves, W.Gnich
BMC Health Services Research, Volume 13, Number 425. October, 2013.

Effectiveness and reach of a directed-population approach to improving dental health and reducing inequalities: a cross sectional study 
L.Brewster, A.Sherriff, LMD.Macpherson
BMC Public Health, Volume 13, Number 778. August 2013

Comparison and Relative Utility of Inequality Measurements: As Applied to Scotland’s Child Dental Health 
YI.Blair, AD.McMahon, LMD.Macpherson
PLOS One, Volume 8, Issue 3. March, 2013.

National Supervised Toothbrushing Program and Dental Decay in Scotland 
LMD.Macpherson, Y.Anopa, DI.Conway, AD.McMahon
Journal of Dental Research, Volume 92, Number 2, pp 109 – 113. February, 2013

2012

The behaviour of extended duties dental nurses and the acceptance of fluoride varnish application in preschool children 
Y.Zhou, GM.Forbes, LMD.Macpherson, GE.Ball, G.Humphris
British Dental Journal, Volume 213, Number 12, pp 603-609. December 2012.

Developing a new self-reported scale of oral health outcomes for 5-year-old children (SOHO-5) 
G.Tsakos, Y.Blair, H.Yusuf, W.Wright, RG.Watt, LMD.Macpherson
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, Volume 10, Number 62. June, 2012.

2011

Reductions in dental decay in 3-year old children in Greater Glasgow and Clyde: repeated population inspection studies over four years 
AD.McMahon, Y.Blair, DR.McCall, LMD.Macpherson
BMC Oral Health, 11:29. 2011.

Systematic review of the effect of dental staff behaviour on child dental patient anxiety and behaviour 
Y.Zhou, E.Cameron, G.Forbes, G.Humphris
Patient Education and Counseling, Volume 85, Issue 1, pp 4-13.

2010

Childsmile: the national child oral health improvement programme in Scotland. Part 1: establishment and development 
LMD.Macpherson, GE.Ball, L.Brewster, B.Duane, CL.Hodges, W.Wright, W.Gnich, J.Rodgers, DR.McCall, S.Turner, DI.Conway
British Dental Journal, Volume 209, No 2, pp73 – 78. July, 2010.

Childsmile: the national child oral health improvement programme in Scotland. Part 2: monitoring and delivery 
S.Turner, L.Brewster, J.Kidd, W.Gnich, GE.Ball, K.Milburn, NB.Pitts, S.Goold, DI.Conway, LMD.Macpherson
British Dental Journal, Volume 209, No 2, pp79–83. July, 2010.

Camera-related behaviours of female dental nurses and nursery school children during fluoride application interactions in nursery school settings 
Y.Zhou, G.Forbes, G.Humphris
International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, Volume 20, Issue 5, pp 374 – 381. September, 2010.

2009

‘Tackling Socially Determined Dental Inequalities: Ethical Aspects of Childsmile, the National Child Oral Health Demonstration Programme in Scotland’.
D.Shaw, LMD.Macpherson, DI.Conway
Bioethics, Volume 23, Number 2, 2009.