Peer-reviewed article
Policy integration of pediatric oral health: aligning medicine and dentistry for child well-being
Laresh Naresh Mistry, Saudamini G. More, Sumeet Agarwal, Prasad Nanasaheb Mhaske, Vivek Sharma et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Pediatric oral health is a neglected aspect of child health despite evidence that untreated dental disease harms children's growth and quality of life. Early childhood caries affects 60–90% of children globally, with worse outcomes in disadvantaged groups. The main barriers are that oral health services are separate from general pediatric care, pediatricians lack training, and families cannot afford preventive care. The report calls for integrating oral health into pediatric visits, improving education for healthcare workers, expanding insurance coverage, and using new care models like telehealth.
Key points
- Early childhood caries and related oral conditions affect 60–90% of children globally, disproportionately impacting disadvantaged groups
- Untreated dental disease is linked to systemic complications, impaired growth, and reduced quality of life
- Pediatricians have limited oral health training and are not the point of care where oral conditions are detected early
- Structural barriers include fragmented professional education, poor referral systems, inadequate insurance, and inconsistent access to preventive services
- Key strategies include integrating oral health into routine pediatric visits, advancing interprofessional education, expanding insurance coverage, and adopting innovative care models such as telehealth and task-shifting
Limitations
This is a policy analysis and position paper that does not present empirical data or evaluate a specific intervention with a study design. It cannot tell us which of the proposed strategies would be most effective or what their implementation costs and feasibility would be.
Abstract
Oral health remains a critical yet overlooked aspect of pediatric health, despite strong evidence linking untreated dental disease with systemic complications, impaired growth, and reduced quality of life. Globally, early childhood caries and related oral conditions affect 60%-90% of children, disproportionately impacting disadvantaged groups. However, pediatric oral health is often siloed from mainstream child health services. Pediatricians, frequently the first point of contact for families, have limited oral health training, while pediatric dentists often see children only when conditions have advanced, reducing opportunities for prevention and early care. Structural barriers-including fragmented professional education, poor referral systems, inadequate insurance, and inconsistent access to preventive services-further limit progress. Families face significant out-of-pocket costs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where preventive oral care is excluded from many pediatric health packages. Caregiver health literacy and cultural beliefs also contribute to delayed care-seeking. A policy-level response is essential to bridge these gaps. Key strategies include integrating oral health into routine pediatric visits, advancing interprofessional education, expanding insurance coverage for preventive services, and adopting innovative care models such as telehealth and task-shifting. Embedding pediatric oral health into universal health coverage and child health policies will promote equity and sustainability. Urgent systemic reforms are needed to position pediatric oral health as a core component of child well-being, requiring coordinated action among pediatricians, pediatric dentists, and public health policymakers.