Why Oral Health?
Tooth decay is the most common preventable childhood disease in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), tooth decay in primary, or baby, teeth increased among children aged 2 to 5 years, even though they are seeing small improvements in all other age groups. Left untreated, the pain and infection caused by dental decay can cause a variety of problems for child children: • Difficulty in eating • Inability to sleep well • Unable to focus and distracted easily making learning difficult • Early tooth loss can affect both speech patterns and the amount of space needed for permanent teeth to erupt. All of these challenges have a negative impact on how a child feels about themselves and the way they look as well as how they may behave. Oral health care is a critical component of health care and must be included in the design of community programs. Head Start and Early Head Start are examples of programs that provide medical, dental, and nutritional screening, ass
