Community-Based Caries Control Programs for Preschool Children

Abstract

Early childhood caries (ECC) is prevalent in developing countries and in disadvantaged communities of the developed countries. Most of the decayed teeth in preschool children remain untreated. Managing ECC with restorative treatment is challenging especially in disadvantaged communities due to the constraints of oral health personnel and other resources. The prevailing methods for cariesman-agement are neither affordable nor available in the low-income countries. This lecture will discuss different feasible and effective oral health measures to control dental caries focusing on preschool children under the community care settings. Since silver diamine fluo-ride (SDF) has gained more attention due to its promising results in arresting caries, this lecture will focus on mechanism of action, clinical use and safety of SDF.