Crying for a Smile is a forty-minute, pediatric oral health grand rounds presentation for medical providers. The program’s goal is to improve children’s health by informing medical providers about their important role in the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC). This enables the providers to better educate and assist families in the prevention of the disease and in obtaining dental care.
Many medical practitioners are unaware of just how critical their role is in the detection of early childhood caries. Crying for a Smile encourages medical providers to “lift-the-lip” to check for ECC as part of all well-baby exams. Crying for a Smile explains the signs, symptoms and prevention of dental caries by explaining both the etiology and the consequences of ECC. The program also enlightens the practitioners as to the long-term costs of untreated ECC. Clinical slides of early, moderate, and severe ECC are reviewed so the medical provider knows the “who, what, why, and how” to include ECC screening (“lift-the-lip”) as a part of every well-baby exam.
The Crying for a Smile program was developed through a collaborative effort involving representatives of private and public health dentistry, dental hygiene, pediatrics, and others. Significant research publications were reviewed and utilized in the design of the program. Crying for a Smile was pilot-tested in a community hospital outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was very well-received. Future presentations are planned for 2000.
Crying for a Smile is available in slide or CD presentation. A companion resource directory (for Wisconsin only) is also provided.
See www.healthysmilesforwi.orgLearning Objectives: The Crying for a Smile pediatric oral health grand rounds program was developed for presentation to area hospitals, clinics, and related educational facilities. Anticipated learner groups include: pediatricians, family physicians, medical residents, allied health students, physician assistants, nursing students, nurses, nurse practitioners and others. The program’s goal is to improve children’s health by informing medical providers about their important role in the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC). This will enable them to better educate and assist families in the prevention of the disease and in obtaining dental care. Many medical practitioners are unaware of just how critical their role is in the detection of ECC. This type of pediatric oral health grand rounds program fits Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin’s objective of collaborating with programs that encourage exchange of information between health care providers, academic institutions and community-based organizations. The organization realized early on that primary (medical) health care providers are key partners in the collaborative effort to improve the oral health of children. This role may be overlooked by medical providers, however, so the Crying for a Smile program was developed to inform them and to affect their practice. The Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin is a statewide organization of parents and professionals devoted to creating an integrated child health system in Wisconsin. Access to dental care is one of the primary goals of the organization.
Keywords: Oral Health, Primary Prevention
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.