USA - Seeking a solution

Seeking a solution
Early childhood caries in American Indian children defies traditional preventive approaches to infection
Posted Jan. 25, 2010
By Stacie Crozier
......."Dr. Donald W. Marianos, a public health consultant, said that prevention of early childhood caries in this specific population [Native-American] has seen very limited or no improvement over the past 30 years, despite implementation of community water system fluoridation, fluoride rinses, dental sealants and oral health education."

"According to statistics presented at the symposium, ECC prevalence is about 400 percent higher in AI/AN children than for all U.S. races. In addition, ECC is often much more aggressive and destructive in AI/AN children. In some AI/AN communities, up to 50 percent of the children have such severe caries that they require full mouth restoration under general anesthesia—a rate about 50–100 times that in all other U.S. races. Severe ECC often leads to a lifetime of oral health problems."..........