Improving Oral Health of Preschool Children in a North Indian City

Dental caries is the most prevalent oral disease in the world especially developing countries like India. It affects children as early as 6 months of age and often carries itself throughout the life of an individual. Compounding to the existing problem of high incidence of caries, there are very few dental professionals in India, those too unequally distributed (dentist to population ratio: 1:100000 in rural areas and 1:35000 in urban areas). Moreover, they cater primarily to curative and restorative needs rather than preventive needs of population. The plight of story is further strengthened by the fact that there is no comprehensive oral health programme or policy in India. The book focuses on feasibility of oral health training of community health workers (anganwadi workers)in improving the oral health status of preschool children in a Northern City of India. It also highlights the importance of including Snyder test (a caries activity test) in field settings which requires minimum laboratory facilities; is easy to perform, read and interpret; is cost effective and does not require strict cold chain conditions.