Are we reaching very young children with needed dental services?

Abstract

Recommendations by the Academy of Pediatric Dentistry urging a dental/oral examination of all infants before one year of age, have had limited impact on the profession and the general public. Significant numbers of pediatric dentistry specialists and general practitioners who provide care for children, disagree with the recommendations. Between the mid 1970s and 1990's, there has been no change in the percent of children less than six years of age who were reported to have visited a dentist in the past year. A review is provided of the dental disease needs and dental service patterns of very young children in the various demographic populations in an attempt to 1) increase practitioner awareness of the continuing needs for services and 2) develop a dialogue between the organizations of the profession and the dentists in practice, regarding directions to be taken in the future.