Browsing by Author "Sabbah, Wael"

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    Country profile of the epidemiology and clinical management of early childhood caries.
    (Frontiers in Public Health, 2020-04-30) Folayan, Morenike Oluwatoyin; El Tantawi, Maha; Ramos-Gomez, Francisco; Sabbah, Wael
    Early childhood caries (ECC) is the presence of decayed (cavitated and non-cavitated), filled and missing teeth due to caries, affecting the primary dentition in children less than 72 months old (1). It is the most common non-communicable disease in children (2) and a global endemic problem with those socially disadvantaged (ethnic minorities, immigrants, those of low socioeconomic status or from resource-limited settings) being most affected. The negative impact of ECC on the quality of life, growth, social development, and neurodevelopment of affected children makes it ethically imperative that public epidemiological and clinical management of ECC improves (3). Whether treated or not, ECC is a high-risk factor for caries in the first permanent molar, as highlighted by Songur et al. in this topical issue. Four other manuscripts in this special issue emphasize the urgency of addressing the endemic ECC problem. Musinguzi et al. highlighted that the prevalence of ECC in rural Uganda was 48.6% in 3–5-year-olds, and Castillo et al. showed it was as high as 76.2% in 3–5-year-olds in Peru. Also, Pierce et al. reported a prevalence of 98% in some parts of Canada, and Amalia et al. reported a prevalence of 100% in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Twenty years after establishing the definition of ECC, we know a lot more about ECC prevention and management (4), but we still know little about cost-effective integrated management of ECC that can control the disease using life course approaches appropriate for various cultural settings. The World Health Organization guidance document (2) promotes integration of oral healthcare into existing primary care systems. In this special issue, Villalta et al. describe how an integrated primary care model improved the knowledge and attitudes of caregivers regarding child oral health care, and Castillo et al. discuss policies, taxes, and guidelines on ECC management and labeling of food sugar content that are addressing the huge ECC problem in Peru. Policies and taxes are strong tools for addressing structural barriers and enhancing actions for disease control, as we have learnt from tobacco control programs (5). Increased availability of ECC data will help improve the design and implementation of context-specific public oral health responses to control the disease through which we can learn about effective public health ECC control responses. The epidemiological profiles of ECC in Canada (Pierce et al.), Indonesia (Amalia et al.), Israel (Shmueli et al.), and Peru (Castillo et al.) that were presented in this issue add to our understanding of the risk factors for ECC.
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    Editorial: Country Profile of the Epidemiology and Clinical Management of Early Childhood Caries.
    (frontiers in public health, 2020-04-30) Folayan, Morenike Oluwatoyin; El Tantawi, Maha; Ramos-Gomez, Francisco; Sabbah, Wael
    Early childhood caries (ECC) is the presence of decayed (cavitated and non-cavitated), filled and missing teeth due to caries, affecting the primary dentition in children less than 72 months old (1). It is the most common non-communicable disease in children (2) and a global endemic problem with those socially disadvantaged (ethnic minorities, immigrants, those of low socioeconomic status or from resource-limited settings) being most affected. The negative impact of ECC on the quality of life, growth, social development, and neurodevelopment of affected children makes it ethically imperative that public epidemiological and clinical management of ECC improves (3). Whether treated or not, ECC is a high-risk factor for caries in the first permanent molar, as highlighted by Songur et al. in this topical issue. Four other manuscripts in this special issue emphasize the urgency of addressing the endemic ECC problem. Musinguzi et al. highlighted that the prevalence of ECC in rural Uganda was 48.6% in 3–5-year-olds, and Castillo et al. showed it was as high as 76.2% in 3–5-year-olds in Peru. Also, Pierce et al. reported a prevalence of 98% in some parts of Canada, and Amalia et al. reported a prevalence of 100% in South Kalimantan, Indonesia