33
Volume1 Issue4
|
I
ssues and
P
eople
Early ChildhoodCaries
ACALLTOACTION
Fromyourperspective,what is themost
important issue in theareaof childand
infantoralhealth today inCanada?
Asapediatricdentist, I have to tell you
that there’sa silent epidemicof themost
commonchronic infectiousdisease in
childhood—earlychildhoodcariesand
severeearlychildhoodcaries.Wehavean
inability indentistry tobeable tocope
with thispresently.
Howbigan issue is this inCanada?What
does theevidencesayand is itagrowing
issue?
Anecdotally,we’veknownabout the
problem for a long time. In2007, the
Centers forDiseaseControl andPrevention
reported that thisdiseasewas increasing.
1
More recently, inCanada therehavebeen
twopivotal publications. Thefirstwas
apaperby the surgeon-in-chief at The
Hospital for SickChildrenonaccess target
times forpediatric surgeries inCanada.
2
Thearticle showed that forCanadian
children, pediatricdentistrywas themost
common surgical procedureoutof all
pediatric surgeries, andwehad the longest
wait timesand thepoorest access to
service.
We see kids that are sufferingdailywith pain,
sufferingwith either chronic infections or acute
exacerbation, kidswith swollen faceswho can’t eat or
sleepwell.
Dr.RossAnderson, headof thepediatricdentistrydivisionatDalhousieUniversity's facultyof dentistryand chief of
dentistryat the IWKHealthCentre inHalifax, spokewithCDAabout theprevalence of early childhood caries, also
knownas “the silent epidemic,”andwhatdentists cando tohelp.
The secondpublication, by theCanadian
Institute forHealth Information,wason
day surgery forpreventable treatmentof
childhoodcavities.
3
The shocking thing
about thispaper is it showed that 30%
of all day surgical time inpublic facilities
for infantsandchildrenwasdevoted to
treatmentof earlychildhoodcariesand
severeearlychildhoodcaries. You just
need to stopand think: 30%of all day
surgical time—that’sahugepartof a
publichealth resource. And the study
noted that it’s really just the tipof the
icebergbecause thedatadoesn’t capture
thegeneral practicedentistswho treat
kids in theiroffice, pediatricdentistsdoing
thiswork, andpeopleworking inprivate
surgical facilities. So it’sahuge issue in
Canada that’s recentlybeen recognized.
What is thesignificance forusasa
profession—andasasociety—ifwe
don’t comeupwithcreativesolutions for
thissilentepidemic?
I think that childrenareoneof themost
vulnerable segmentsof ourpopulation.
Weall know the relationshipof oral
health togeneral health—for example,
theassociationof oral healthwithcardiac
diseaseor low-birth-weight infants. But in
pediatricswe’veknown theeffectsofpoor
oral health for a long time.We seekids
that are sufferingdailywithpain, suffering
For the full audio
interviewand the list
of references, visit
RossD.Anderson
DDS,DipPaed,
MSc,FRCD(C)
