An oral health survey was conducted over a 2-year period from July 1, 1998, to June 30, 2000. The survey was drawn from a sample of Pennsylvania public schoolchildren which is representative at the state and the six health district levels. The sample design was a probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) selection of school districts from the public school systems. Children in grades 1, 3, 9, and 11 were screened. Each of the five examiners was trained and calibrated and the intra- and inter-examiner agreement of all clinical measures was 90%. Positive parental consent was used. Diagnostic criteria were comparable to ASTDD’s 1999 Basic Screening Survey. The data were weighted to account for the survey design and were adjusted for nonresponse.

For more information about this survey, contact:

Leslie A. Best, BSW
Director
Bureau of Chronic Diseases & Injury Prevention
Pennsylvania Department of Health
Rm 1008, Health & Welfare Building
Harrisburg, PA 17108
Telephone: 717-787-5900
Fax: 717-783-5498
E-mail: lbest@state.pa.gov