Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
J Public Health Dent. 2011 Spring;71(2):81-90. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2010.00204.x.
Almost two out of every three US children younger than five receive child care from someone other than their parents. Health promotion in early education and child care (EECC) programs can improve the general health of children and families, but little is known about the role of these programs in oral health. We identified U.S. EECC program guidelines and assessed their oral health recommendations for infants and toddlers.
State licensing regulations were obtained from the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care's online database. Professional standards were identified through a search of PubMed, early childhood organizations' websites, and early childhood literature. All EECC guidelines were reviewed for key terms related to oral health promotion in children and summarized by domains.
Thirty-six states include oral health in their licensing regulations, but recommendations are limited and most often address the storage of toothbrushes. Eleven sets of standards were identified, four of which make recommendations about oral health. Standards from the American Academy of Pediatrics/American Public Health Association (AAP/APHA) and the Office of Head Start (OHS) provide the most comprehensive oral health recommendations regarding screening and referral, classroom activities, and education.
Detailed guidelines for oral health practices exist but they exhibit large variation in number and content. States can use the comprehensive standards from the AAP/APHA and OHS to inform and strengthen the oral health content of their licensing regulations. Research is needed to determine compliance with regulations and standards, and their effect on oral health.
在美国，每三个五岁以下的儿童中，就有将近两个是由父母以外的人照料的。在早期教育和儿童保育 (EECC) 计划中进行健康促进可以改善儿童和家庭的整体健康状况，但这些计划在口腔健康方面的作用却知之甚少。我们确定了美国 EECC 计划准则，并评估了这些准则对婴幼儿口腔健康的建议。
从国家儿童保健安全健康资源中心的在线数据库中获取了州许可法规。通过在 PubMed、幼儿组织网站和幼儿文献中搜索，确定了专业标准。审查了所有 EECC 指南，以查找与儿童口腔健康促进相关的关键词，并按领域进行总结。
36 个州在其许可法规中纳入了口腔健康内容，但建议有限，大多数情况下仅涉及牙刷的储存。确定了 11 套标准，其中 4 套对口腔健康提出了建议。美国儿科学会/美国公共卫生协会 (AAP/APHA) 和儿童早期办公室 (OHS) 的标准就筛查和转诊、课堂活动和教育提供了最全面的口腔健康建议。
详细的口腔健康实践指南已经存在，但在数量和内容上存在很大差异。各州可以使用 AAP/APHA 和 OHS 的综合标准来为其许可法规中的口腔健康内容提供信息并加强其内容。需要研究以确定法规和标准的遵守情况及其对口腔健康的影响。
