Guideline on Infant Oral Health Care

Resident: Cho
Journal: AAPD Clinical Guidelines 2010-2011

Main Purpose: To provide guidelines for infant oral health care in order to enhance the opportunity for a lifetime free from preventable oral disease.

Methods:
Systematic literature search of the MEDLINE/Pubmed electronic database using the following parameters: infant oral health , infant oral health care, and early childhood caries.

Key points/Summary:
- More than 40% of children have caries by the time they reach kindergarten.
- ECC affects infants from low SES, high sugar diet, mothers who have low education: 32 times more than the general population.
- Vertical colonization of MS from mother to infant is well documented. Also, recent reports have indicated horizontal transmission (transmission between members of a group, such as siblings of similar age or children in a daycare center).

Recommendations by AAPD:
1. All primary health care professionals who serve mothers and infants provide parent/caregiver education on the etiology and prevention of ECC.
2. The curriculum of all medical, nursing, and allied health professional programs should include information about ECC (source is an infectious and transmissible bacteria), methods of oral health risk assessment, anticipatory guidance, and early intervention.
3. Every infant receive oral health risk assessment by the age of 6 months:
- assessing patient’s risk of developing oral disease using caries risk assessment
- providing education on infant oral health
- evaluating and optimizing fluoride exposure
4. Parents or caregivers establish a dental home for infants by 12 months of age.
5. Health care professionals and others involved in children’s oral health should support the identification of a dental home for all infants at age of 12 months.
6. Legislators, policy makers, and third party payors be educated about the benefits of early interventions in order to support efforts that improve access to oral health care for infants and children.

Assessment of Article: Good overview of infant oral care.