title: Visionaries or dreamers? The story of infant oral health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the early history of the promotion of oral health for infants and toddlers, the impact of the AAPD guideline on infant oral health care and ways to maximize health outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Review of the literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Concepts on primary prevention and early intervention were reported as early as the 19th century. Progress to positively impact the oral health of children has been made. Nevertheless, the advice of early scholars and clinicians that oral care and prevention must begin early with the caregivers and the emergence of the infant's first tooth have not been fully embraced by the profession.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A historical perspective on oral health care for infants and toddlers has been presented. There is a need to move away from the surgical approach of managing oral disease and embrace the concepts of primary care beginning perinatally while more broadly addressing social determinants of health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA. nowak@abpd.org
authors.forename: Arthur J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Rocio B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Quiñonez
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007229:Infant Welfare; D009909:Oral Health; D011313:Preventive Dentistry / Q000266:history; D011322:Primary Prevention