Pediatric Dental Hygiene

The steps involved to complete a thorough assessment and evaluation of a child patient are very similar to those involved with an adult patient. The goal of pediatric dental care is primarily preventive and as such, parent education is an important part of pediatric care.5 In order to provide proper preventive care, children should see a dentist as soon as the first teeth start to erupt and no later than 12 months.1 This will help orient the patient the dental setting and give the dentist the opportunity to help guide the parents in proper oral hygiene of their child. The first step of the assessment of a child is to obtain a complete medical history of the child patient and secure documents of parental consent to treatment. The medical
In order to aid in the management of infant patients, McDonald suggests employing certain behavioral techniques such as the knee-to-knee exam.5 This will help put the child at ease so the dentist can better complete the evaluation. The extraoral examination is completed first, where the dentist assesses symmetry of orofacial structures, signs of any abnormal skin lesions, signs of parafunctional habits such as thumb sucking, speech, and assessment of the temporomandibular joint. These will all aid the dentist in evaluating the growth and development of the child. Following the extraoral examination, the intraoral examination is completed, and must be comprehensive in nature. McDonald states the importance of evaluating the soft tissues and status of developing occlusion since the child is constantly growing, and there is a dynamic developmental process that is ongoing. The teeth should be inspected for evidence of carious lesions both intraorally and
Following assessment of the child, the dentist needs to create an appropriate and individualized treatment plan utilizing the intraoral and extraoral findings as well as the radiographic and caries risk assessment. Parent education will be a large part of the treatment plan and the dentist must make it a priority to inform the parent on proper oral hygiene practices and etiologic factors of caries formation in children. Treatment may also include fluoride supplementation and regular prophylaxis, as well as treatment of any elective restorative care.
In addition to the steps involved in assessing a child patient, additional steps are necessary if there is any suspicion of child abuse. McDonald points out that there are many categories of child abuse which include, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and psychological abuse.5 Thus, a dentist must be vigilant in the examination of a child, as studies have shown that trauma to the orofacial region accounts for roughly 50% of child abuse cases.5 The first step is a complete dental and physical examination of the child as