title: Cost-effectiveness model for prevention of early childhood caries.
abstract: This study presents and illustrates a model that determines the cost-effectiveness of three successively more complete levels of preventive intervention (minimal, intermediate, and comprehensive) in treating dental caries in disadvantaged children up to 6 years of age. Using existing data on the costs of early childhood caries (ECC), the authors estimated the probable cost-effectiveness of each of the three preventive intervention levels by comparing treatment costs to prevention costs as applied to a typical low-income California child for five years. They found that, in general, prevention becomes cost-saving if at least 59 percent of carious lesions receive restorative treatment. Assuming an average restoration cost of $112 per surface, the model predicts cost savings of $66 to $73 in preventing a one-surface, carious lesion. Thus, all three levels of preventive intervention should be relatively cost-effective. Comprehensive intervention would provide the greatest oral health benefit; however, because more children would receive reparative care, overall program costs would rise even as per-child treatment costs decline.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of California at San Francisco 94143, USA.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Ramos-Gomez
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Shepard
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000191:economics*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005460:Fluorides, Topical; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018803:Models, Economic
chemical_list: D005460:Fluorides, Topical