The Ontario Public Health Standards (2018) require that public health units conduct oral health surveillance of children in schools. The Oral Health Information Support System (OHISS) is the database used by public health units to support oral health screening and surveillance, as well as claims administration for dental programs.
Oral health surveillance is conducted every year on JK, SK, and grade 2 children in publicly funded schools at a minimum. Other grades may potentially be screened as well - the Oral Health Assessment and Surveillance Protocol outlines how public health units determine which grades to screen in each school. Children who are absent from school on the day of screening, schooled at home or who refuse are excluded.
The objectives of screening are to determine the prevalence of dental disease and the need for preventive and treatment services. In addition, the information collected supports program planning and evaluation, and identifies the "at risk" segments of the surveyed population.
The Oral Health Assessment and Screening protocol replaced the Dental Indices Survey (DIS), as of January 1, 2009.