- Nursing caries and rampant caries are common patterns of caries in preschool
children. - Parents should be encouraged to bring their children for a dental check-up as soon
as the child's first tooth has erupted. - Prevention is a cornerstone of the management of caries in the preschool child.
- Planned treatment should be carried out at a pace the child can accept.
- Preschool children need careful introduction to dental equipment and procedures.
- Inhalation or oral sedation can be effective strategies for anxious preschool
children. - General anaesthesia should be reserved for those cases where other approaches to
management have either failed or are deemed inappropriate. - Local analgesia is advisable for definitive restoration of all but small cavities, but
care should be exercised to avoid overdosage in the small child. - Rubber dam makes good quality treatment easier to achieve for both the child and
dentist. - Choice of restorative materials should reflect the high risk of further caries in the
young child. - Stainless-steel crowns are the most effective restoration for primary molars with
caries on more than two surfaces.
7.10 FURTHER READING
British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (1997). A policy document on the dental needs
of children. 324HInternational Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 7 , 203-7. (BSPD consensus
view document which reviews current standards of UK child dental care and suggests
how these might be improved.)
British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (2003). A policy document on oral health care
in preschool children. 325HInternational Journal of Paediatric Dentistry, 13 , 279-85.
(BSPD concensus document giving guidance for the delivery of oral health care to
preschool children.)
Duggal, M. S., Curzon, M. E. J., Fayle, S. A., Pollard, M. A., and Robertson, A. J.
(2002). Restorative techniques in paediatric dentistry. (2nd edn). Taylor & Francis,
London. (A practical guide to the restoration of carious primary teeth.)
Seow, W. K. (1998). Biological mechanisms of early childhood caries. 326HCommunity
Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 26 , (Suppl. 1), 8-27. (An excellent review of the
various aetiological factors involved in early childhood caries.)