Considerations for Oral Health Integration in Primary Care Practice for Children.

摘要

Dental caries is the most common chronic disease encountered by children in the United States. In 2009-2010, 14% of children aged 3 to 5 years and 17% of children aged 6 to 9 years had untreated dental caries. Poor oral health can lead to malnutrition, childhood speech problems, and serious, and sometimes fatal infections.3 Non-dental health care professionals have a unique and important role in oral health care because young children visit pediatricians and family physicians earlier and more frequently than they visit dentists. In this module, the importance of the dental home, caries risk assessment, anticipatory guidance, and fluoride varnish application are discussed. All of these can be performed by pediatric primary health care providers (PPHPs) in their office.