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Retention Of Low Income Children In Three Dental Studies Investigating Early Childhood Caries, Ann H. Saba, John J. Warren, Karin Weber-Gasparoni, Deborah V. Dawson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: To our knowledge no dental studies have looked closely at subject retention, which is crucial to better understand oral health disparities. In this paper, we report retention rates and review and attempt to assess which retention strategies utilized in 3 dental research studies investigating ECC were effective for retaining WIC-enrolled children. The purpose of this paper is to discuss challenges that were encountered when working with these populations, describe characteristics of those not retained, and summarize some recommendations for future dental studies working at WIC sites. Methods: Three dental studies were conducted at WIC clinics in Iowa. Retention strategies …