Abstract
This resource focuses on educating health care providers who care for children. The course covers the definition, consequences, risk factors, recognition, and prevention of early childhood caries, as well as providing a review of common oral developmental concerns. This module is designed as an interactive educational tool for both individuals and groups from all aspects of the health care profession. It is a part of the series Smiles for Life: A National Oral Health Curriculum, the nation’s most comprehensive and widely used oral health curriculum designed for primary care clinicians. The eight-module course covers the relationship of oral to systemic health, child oral health, adult oral health, dental emergencies, oral health in pregnancy, fluoride varnish, and the oral examination.
Educational Objectives
By the end of this module, learners should be able to:
- Discuss the prevalence, etiology, and consequences of early childhood caries (ECC).
- Recognize the various stages of ECC on oral examination.
- Assess a child’s risk of developing ECC.
- Implement prevention of ECC through use of fluoride, proper hygiene, diet, and appropriate dental referral.
- Discuss common dental developmental issues in children and offer appropriate guidance to parents.
Disclosures
None to report.
Funding/Support
Development of the Smiles for Life curriculum was supported by unrestricted grants from the National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health (NIIOH), which in turn was funded by the Dentaquest Foundation, Washington Dental Service Foundation, and Connecticut Health Foundation. This project is also sponsored in part by funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration/Maternal Child Health Bureau grant #U44MC20223.
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.
Citation
This publication is co-sponsored by the American Dental Education Association.