Oral Health Policies to Tackle the Burden of Early Childhood Caries: A Review of 14 Countries/Regions

Frontiers in Oral Health

Diah Ayu Maharani¹  Morenik Oluwatoyin Folayan²  Thanya Sitthisettapong³  Prathip Phantumvanit³  Nicola Innes⁴  Yasmi O. Crystal⁵  Francisco Ramos-Gomez⁶  Aida Carolina Medina⁷  Murugan Satta Muthu⁸  Dina Attia^1,10  Maha El Tantawi^1,10  Masahiro Heima^1,11  Chun Hung Chu^1,12  Edward Chin Man Lo^1,12  Sherry Shiqian Gao^1,12  Duangporn Duangthip^1,12  Bathsheba Turton^1,13  Callum Durward^1,13  Robert Anthonappa^1,14  Fang Huang^1,15  Jieyi Chen^1,15  Branca Heloisa Oliveira^1,16 

[1] 0Faculty of Dentistry, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia;1Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Nigeria;2Faculty of Dentistry, Thammasat University, Khlong Nueng, Thailand;3School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom;4College of Dentistry, New York University, New York, NY, United States;5School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States;6School of Dentistry, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela;Adjunct Research Associate, Centre of Medical and Bio-Allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates;Centre for Early Childhood Caries Research (CECCRe), Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, India;Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt;Faculty of Dentistry, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan;Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;Faculty of Dentistry, University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia;Guanghua School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China;School of Dentistry, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;

关键词: child;    dental caries;    early childhood caries;    fluorides;    policy;    oral health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/froh.2021.670154

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Aim: Early childhood caries (ECC) has significant public health implications but has received inadequate global attention. There is limited information regarding the success of oral health policies implemented to address the challenges of ECC. This review aimed to summarize such policies to tackle ECC from different countries/regions.Method: Independent collaborators from 14 countries/regions (Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Thailand, UK, USA, and Venezuela) collected the data. The ECC status, dental workforce, oral health policies on ECC prevention in different countries/regions were summarized by each country.Results: The findings indicated that ECC prevalence varied in different countries/regions. The lowest prevalence of ECC among 5-year-old children was found in Nigeria (7%), and the highest was found in Indonesia (90%). The existing dental workforce and resources are limited in most countries. The smallest dentist to population ratio was reported by Nigeria at 1:48,400, whereas the highest ratio was in Brazil (1:600). Out of 14, three (21%) countries namely India, Venezuela and Cambodia had no national oral health policies addressing ECC and four (29%) countries (Cambodia, China, India, Venezuela) had no publicly funded dental care program for 0–5-year-old children. Water fluoridation is available in four countries/regions (Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, USA).Conclusion: ECC remains a global health challenge and dental workforce is limited. National/regional programs to tackle ECC are not yet prioritized in many countries/regions. Evidence to support demonstration projects is limited. Further research on the cost-effectiveness of interventions strategies is required for policymakers.

【 授权许可】

Unknown