Prevention of early childhood caries: a public health perspective.
This paper proposes strategies for preventing early childhood caries (ECC), preferably for the greatest number of children at the lowest cost. Population-based, public health approaches are more likely to reach the target population groups at risk of developing ECC than individual, private practice-based approaches. Different prevention and early intervention strategies are discussed and the following recommendations are made: 1) Continue to promote community water fluoridation. 2) Evaluate the effectiveness of other public health oriented measures to prevent ECC. 3) Develop a national ECC and rampant caries registry. 4) Link oral health screening and easily implemented, low-cost interventions with immunization schedules and public health nursing activities. 5) Increase opportunities for community-based interventions conducted by dental hygienists. 6) Change insurance reimbursement schedules to provide incentives for dentists to prevent disease. 7) Include dentistry in new child health insurance legislation for children as well as parents of infants and preschool children.
Department of Dental Public Health and Hygiene, University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry, 94143-0754, USA. janew@itsa.ucsf.edu
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Weintraub
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003756:Dental Hygienists; D005457:Fluoridation; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D007223:Infant; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008403:Mass Screening; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011331:Private Practice; D011636:Public Health Dentistry / Q000191:economics; D011637:Public Health Nursing; D012042:Registries; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D012307:Risk Factors