NPC NEWS BULLETIN
ISSUE 2.................................... June 25, 1999

ORAL HEALTH ORAL HEALTH ORAL HEALTH

Each issue of the NPC News Bulletin features a different theme and highlights Consortium activities and related maternal and child health, as well as other health-related information for families. This issue focuses on Oral Health.

We invite you to visit the National Parent Consortium website to learn more about who we are and what we do.

FIGHTING TOOTH DECAY IN BABIES AND YOUNG CHILDREN

Steps to fight tooth decay

• Clean teeth with a washcloth or small toothbrush at least once a day.
• Use a small amount (split-pea size) of fluoride toothpaste when brushing.
• Keep your own teeth healthy.

Use Fluoride

• Fluoride is a mineral that will make your baby or child's teeth harder.
• Know how much fluoride is in your drinking water. Your health care professional can help you find out.
• Your well water can be tested for free.
• Your doctor can give you a fluoride prescription if needed.
  

Facts About Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

What is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?

• It is tooth decay in babies and young children.
• Obvious signs occur from 12 months to 3 years of age.
• Begins on the upper front teeth as chalky white spots next to gums.

How can I prevent Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?

• Don't put your baby to bed with a bottle.
• Wean your baby from the bottle by age one.
• Use fluoride.

My baby cries without a bedtime bottle. How can I help my baby sleep?

Follow a soothing bedtime routine:

• Rock baby
• Walk baby
• Read a story
• Sing or play quiet music
• Pat baby on back
• Give baby a blanket or teddy bear

It's okay to put your baby to bed awake. This gives your baby a chance to settle down on his or her own.

(The Baby Bottle Tooth Decay Initiative is promoted by the Vermont Department of Health and funded by the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation, Inc. Provided by Dr. Jan K. Carney, VT Commissioner of Health at the NPC Congressional Forum on May 20, 1999.)

CRISIS IN CARE:
THE FACTS BEHIND CHILDREN'S
LACK OF ACCESS TO MEDICAID DENTAL CARE

(The following information is taken from an article in the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health’s Policy Brief, May 1998, written by Burton L. Edelstein, D.D.S., M.P.H., Director of the Children’s Dental Health Project.)

What Are The Hidden Facts?

• More than 1/2 of all children ages 6-8 and 2/3 of all 15-year-old adolescents continue to experience dental decay!
• 57% of parents reported unmet dental needs—nearly five times the number reporting the need for eyeglasses. Twice as many parents claimed unmet desires for their children’s dental treatment as for their medical care.
• Nearly 1/3 of the cavities in children ages 6-8 have not been repaired—a higher percentage today than 10 years ago.
• Fewer children visit a dentist before entering kindergarten today than 10 years ago, despite widespread understanding that tooth decay starts before 2 years of age.

Why Is Tooth Decay Still an Important Policy Problem?

Often viewed as an innocuous and trivial disease, tooth decay and its consequences cause harm far beyond the mouth. Chronically poor oral health is associated with diminished growth in toddlers, compromised nutrition in children, and cardiac and obstetric dysfunction in adults.

Who Owns This Problem?

Parents, dentists who treat children from low-income families, child advocates, and health care program officials—from case workers to senior administrators—know the reality of this problem.

What Is Medicaid’s Role?

All children enrolled in Medicaid are entitled to comprehensive dental services under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment program; yet the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General reported in 1996 that only 18% of Medicaid-eligible children received even a single preventive dental service. Despite the inclusion of dental benefits, state Medicaid programs face a myriad of difficulties, from low levels of participation by dentists to difficulties in teaching beneficiaries how to negotiate the dental care system.

What Action Needs to Be Taken?

Millions of children, their parents, their dentists, and health care officials entrusted with their health care know that the dental problems are real and that Medicaid is not working for them. Medicaid and CHIP can work for children if concerted and cooperative efforts are made. Shared ownership of the problem and strong partnerships among families, health providers, and Medicaid/ CHIP officials are essential.

NATIONAL ORAL HEALTH INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE

A Resource for Patients with Special Needs http://www.aerie.com/nohicweb/

NOHIC is a service of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and helps meet oral health information needs for special care patients. NOHIC is a resource for health professionals and special care patients that gathers and disseminates information from many sources, including voluntary health organizations, research institutions, government agencies, and industry. NOHIC produces and distributes patient and professional education materials including fact sheets, brochures, and information packets. NOHIC also sponsors the Oral Health Database, which includes bibliographic citations, abstracts, and availability information for a wide variety of print and audiovisual materials. NOHIC staff provide free custom or standard searches on specific special care topics in oral health. NOHIC is staffed by health information specialists who can address your information needs, refer you to other helpful organizations, and provide or direct you to current materials that target your interests and concerns.

NOHIC, 1 NOHIC Way, Bethesda, MD 20892-3500; Phone: (301) 402-7364;
Fax: (301) 907-8830; nidr@aerie.com