Pediatric Dentistry and Pedodontics Commons^™

Integrating Oral Health In Primary Care To Reduce Early Childhood Caries (Ecc): Evidence-Based Guidelines And Recommendations, Alyssa Heiser

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic disease affecting children, despite being almost 100% preventable. ECC has become associated with a multi-factorial etiology including poor feeding practices, enamel hypoplasia, oral colonization by cariogenic bacteria, and demineralized tooth structure due to metabolism of sugars by tooth-adherent bacteria. ECC can lead to school absences, poor school performance, difficulty sleeping, attention problems, slower social development, and poor overall health. According to U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines, all children are at potential risk for developing ECC beginning at the time of first tooth eruption. While there are no validated multivariate …