Early Childhood Caries

The prevention of caries is accomplished through the execution of a variety of measures, such as the fluoridation of the drinking water supply as well as the utilization of sealants and topical fluorides (Mouradian, Wehr, and Crall 2625). Despite the ease of preventability of tooth decay, it is one of the most common childhood chronic diseases, with more than half of the nation’s children having detectable caries (Mouradian, Wehr, and Crall 2625). Unfortunately, only 62% of water supplies are fluoridated, and underserved communities with low-income and minority families are usually the ones who are disproportionately affected (Mouradian, Wehr, and Crall 2626). Low-income individuals are generally less likely to seek preventative care, increasing their costs of neglected oral diseases and morbidity factors (Mouradian, Wehr, and Crall 2626). In addition, only one in five children who are covered by Medicaid are authorized for preventative oral healthcare, while restorative care is generally not even a consideration (Mouradian, Wehr, and Crall 2625).

Because children are influenced by the family tradition and learn from their parents, it is important for parents to make sure that they are teaching proper oral care habits at a young age. The habits that children should learn at a young age are; keeping up with home dental care, receiving the dental care that people should, needing dental care but being enforced to go, brushing teeth as well as they should, being taught on how to control snacking between meals as well as they should, and being taught that dental care is indeed important. " Poor oral health has an impact upon children's health in general and dental caries can lead to a lack of appetite, problems with chewing, problems with sleeping and a decrease in school performance" (Abanto et al, 2011). Proper health education is somewhat

Over 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance. On top of that, almost a million emergency room visits last year resulted from preventable oral conditions. Many Americans today are unaware of how the condition of their dentition affects their overall health. Socioeconomic limitations, the lack of dental education in parents, eating habits, and simply the availability of dentists plays a key role in the state of children’s oral health; implementing a universal dental care program will help lower the barriers that many people face when it comes to receiving the dental care they need. The program will target high-risk individuals who are prone to dental caries and provide them with standard

Over 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance. On top of that, almost a million emergency room visits last year resulted from preventable oral conditions. Many Americans today are unaware of how the condition of their dentition affects their overall health. Socioeconomic limitations, the lack of dental education in parents, eating habits, and simply the availability of dentists plays a key role in the state of children’s oral health; implementing a universal dental care program will help lower the barriers that many people face when it comes to receiving the dental care they need. The program will target high-risk individuals who are prone to dental caries and provide them with standard treatment.

The websites I used for my research were Center for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization. The World Health Organization defines Oral Health as “a state of being free from chronic mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral sores, birth defects such as cleft lip and palate, periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay and tooth loss, and other diseases and disorders that affect the oral cavity” (2015). It is necessary to brush our teeth twice a day for two minutes and floss daily. Since tooth decay has been one of the most common chronic disease among children in the United States, I found it very important to educate them that this is a preventable disease and what ways it can be

The utilization of assigned dental home linkage, which is considered to be a key factor in the attempt to reducing the risk of caries development in children by timely provision of services by health care professionals is extremely low in the DC-Medicaid cohort for Calendar year 2014. Out of 55 individuals who were seen by a physician, only 6 had a follow up visit with a dentist, which is far lower than expected, and we did not do any further analysis of this finding. It represents the need for special measures that need to be taken. A combined effort of spreading awareness among people, physicians and dentist through education, and further research by qualitative analysis to find the reasons for such low referral rate might be

“Oral health care is not uniformly attainable across the nation” (Fineberg, H, 2011, p. ix). “Unfortunately, individuals who face the greatest barriers to care are often among the most vulnerable members of our society” (Yi, G., Logan, H. L., Dodd, V. J., Muller, K. E., Marks, J. G., & Riley III, J. L. 2014). It has been said that low health literacy may be associated with barriers to accessing care and with oral health behaviors such as seeking preventive care (Ratzan S, Parker R., 2000). It has also been suggested that those with low health literacy are at highest risk for oral diseases and problems (Horowitz, A., Kleinman D., 2012).

Seven-year-old Carlos Smith came to Universal Pediatric Dental Clinic for his first dental appointment. During his dental visit his hygienist learned he has a sweet tooth and rather drink juice/soda than water and never turn down candy. He is a big chocolate fan, of course the gummy stuff, the Mike, cheerios and Ikes. His hygienist already see two area of caries on his primary teeth. Dr. Jonathan CalBrim, suggested dental sealants, which could help keep tooth decay at Carlos’ permanent molar as well as other teeth. His parents had no idea about caries as well as sealant. His parents have many questions and worried that information may not have been disclosed to public about sealant.

Oral disease is on of the most common health problems affecting children in the United States (Oral Health in America, 2000). Dental caries is the most prevalent dental disease in children which occurs more often in disadvantaged children than in others. Additionally, children with public insurance have great difficulty gaining access to primary oral care services (Kaye N, 1998; Oral health, 2000). A Report of the Surgeon General stated that minority and low-income children in the United States experience poorer oral health and poorer access to dental health care services than do their majority and higher-income peers (Oral Health in America, 2000). Each year, less than one in five children enrolled in Medicaid use preventive services (Kaye N, 1998; Oral health, 2000). Even if the public insured children get some access to preventive care, access to comprehensive dental care is much more less (Oral Health in America, 2000).

Here I learned the utmost importance of oral health promotion and the prevention of dental related diseases through patient education. I was also able to find my place in pediatric dentistry as I learned to work with children from various health and sociocultural backgrounds. The opportunity to exercise my skills while working with the pediatric patient population soon appeared: I became part of a pediatric dental team called All About Kids Pediatric Dentistry. There I began working as a dental assistant with pediatric dentists and dental anesthesiologists, and moved on to providing oral hygiene care. Pediatric dentistry has never felt so rewarding and the idea of considering this specialty remains a tangible

Dental Hygiene is very important to me and has been since I was a child, this has influenced my desire of becoming a pediatric dentist. In a personal interview i conducted with Dr.Bills she informed me of this, “Dental Hygiene is emphasized by all dentists, we want our patients to have elegant white teeth and pleasant breath”(Bills). I would like to teach children the importance of keeping their teeth brushed so that they will have a beautiful smile and healthy teeth. Pediatric Dentistry is a superb fit for me because I care about dental health and I want children to know the importance as well. It is never too early for children to learn how important dental hygiene is.

In this article, two of these studies are mentioned. One of the studies was conducted in Nepal with a sample size of 976 children from three to nine years of age. Each group received a different treatment for caries, except on group which served as the control group, receiving no treatment. The children that had received the 38% silver diamine application showed a significantly higher amount of arrested caries, and even after the two-year follow-up, still had a notable difference in their amount of arrested caries than those who did not receive that treatment. The other study mentioned in this article took place in China with a sample size of 375 children. In this study, each child was placed into one of five groups. In this study, the children receiving the 38% silver diamine fluoride once a year, had the best results with a higher amount of arrested caries than children that used other treatments, such as sodium fluoride every three months instead of one year. The children that received the sodium fluoride application on their teeth resulted having more arrested caries than the children that received no treatment. However, the silver diamine fluoride was the most effective treatment and required only one application per

“although it is not life-threatening, if left untreated can lead to significant acute and chronic conditions, bacteremia, early loss of tooth, malocclusion in the permanent dentition, high cost of treatment, low self-esteem and failure to thrive.”1 A study was done by the Department of Child Dental Health in Nigeria by observing children aged 6-71 months to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries and its association with infant feeding and oral health

Dental caries refer to the indications and manifestations of local dissolution of enamel caused by metabolic processes in the biofilm, or plaque, covering the affected part of the tooth. From twelve to thirty months of age, children have a special pattern of caries formation. This pattern primarily begins by affecting primary maxillary incisors and then first molars. The primary mandibular incisors are not as susceptible to caries formation due to the close proximity to the tongue and saliva from the sublingual and submandibular glands (5). Early childhood caries (ECC) begins with white-spot lesions and can affect the whole

Although considered preventable, 53.6% of Medicaid eligible kindergarteners studied in California had a history of dental caries and 27.8 % had decay present at the time of the screening (Dental Health Foundation, 2006). Teaching young children effective oral hygiene techniques is the most effective way to protect the child’s teeth and help them to develop a daily oral wellness routine ("Dental Health," 2015). By focusing on those most in need, Medicaid eligible preschool aged children, teaching and reinforcing effective oral hygiene strategies early in life will foster a lifelong habit of oral health wellness (Gardner, Lally, & Wardle, 2012).