Empowering Head Start to Improve Access to Good Oral Health for Children from Low Income Families

Abstract

Surveys over 20 years have documented worsening in the dental health of preschoolers. Healthy People 2010 Midcourse Review reports the country moving away from oral health goals for young children; the slip is 57%. Exacerbating this is the inability of Medicaid to provide for those in need. Most children receive examinations only: few receive comprehensive care. We urge Head Start grantees to adopt a new approach to oral health goals and in this paper offer: (1) a review of the problem and premises preventing a solution; (2) a proposal that Head Start adopt a public health perspective; and (3) specific roles staff and dental personnel can take to mount aggressive strategies to arrest tooth decay at the grantee site.

Exploration of the relationship between parent/guardian sociodemographics, intention, and knowledge and the oral health status of their children/wards enrolled in a Central Florida Head Start Program

“…...that by providing pregnant women with oral health care it is not only critical for women's oral health but also the future oral health of their children' (28). In 2008, Milgrom et al explored strategies to empower Head Start to improve access to oral health and suggested that parent education and action needs to begin ahead of the Head Start years for children (4). Therefore, educational programming during a mother's pregnancy should begin with providing the evidence of how a combination of home and professional activities can arrest tooth decay.…”

An Examination of the Advances in Science and Technology of Prevention of Tooth Decay in Young Children Since the Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health

“…Ample evidence demonstrates that the country is failing to move toward meeting Healthy People 2010 goals to improve the oral health of preschoolers with respect to tooth decay,1 and this problem is expanding with higher disease rates and dental workforce shortages 2. The Midcourse Review for Healthy People 2010 suggested that tooth decay (caries) rates for children 2–5 years old were increasing, primarily among the poor and minorities, and most lesions are untreated, to say nothing of prevented 1 Figure 1.…”

Evaluation of Pacific Islands Early Childhood Caries Prevention Project: Republic of the Marshall Islands

“…Other island sites were in the Republic of Palau, Pohnpei, Chuuk and Kosrae states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and Guam. The project was conducted under an initiative of the Office of Head Start in response to growing levels of tooth decay in preschoolers in the United States and Pacific territories and affiliated states, most of which are untreated (6,7).…”

“…Although the level of tooth decay, even with preventive efforts, is several times greater than the average in the mainland United States, the level is not unusual for many communities served by Head Start. We have argued elsewhere that Head Start delegate agencies need to adopt a more public health approach to preventing and arresting tooth decay rather than expending enormous amounts of resources to try to obtain curative treatment for a few, while most children do not receive the basic preventive interventions that have been demonstrated to be effective in this evaluation (7). One of the lessons learned is the importance of strong collaborative relationships between public health dental departments and the schools.…”