Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106791

Abbey Alkon, RN, PhD¹, Lynda Boyer-Chu, RN, MPH², and Rahman Zamani, MD². (1) Department of Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, Box 0606 Room N411Y, San Francisco, CA 94143-0606, 415-476-4695, abbey.alkon@nursing.ucsf.edu, (2) California Childcare Health Program, 1333 Broadway, Suite 1010, Oakland, CA 94612-1926

Dental caries is largely a preventable condition, yet one out of six 2-4 year old children has dental caries. Children from ethnic minority groups make up a substantial proportion of those who develop early caries. To reduce the prevalence and severity of caries and other oral health conditions, it is important to teach those who care for young children about preventive measures. With the increasing number of infants and young children in early care and education programs, it is critical that early care and education providers, also known as childcare providers, and parents, be educated and supervised in providing good oral health practices. However, providers in small family child care and larger center programs may not have access to up-to-date education and materials on oral health. The purpose of this session is to familiarize health professionals who work with childcare providers, such as Child Care Health Consultants, and parents to new oral health lesson plans and instructional materials. A new oral health curriculum was written for health professionals working with childcare providers, parents and children, which was funded by UCSF School of Dentistry and First 5 California. These lessons and materials may be readily adapted for use in other states and by other professionals who provide education and/or supervision of childcare providers.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Articulate the prevalence and severity of dental caries among young children in childcare settings,
• Describe three ways a Child Care Health Consultant or like-professional can assist and support child care programs in meeting the oral health needs of the children they serve,
• Identify at least 3 websites that are reliable sources of oral health information for those working with infant and preschool populations.

Keywords: Oral Health, Child Health

Related Web page: www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.