[Collaboration of oral care and well-child care: for better preventive dentistry]

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatric Dentistry
• Preventive Medicine

Background:

• The Dutch clinical practice guideline
• Oral Care for Children and Young People
• recommends dental visits from the eruption of the first tooth.
• Early oral care is crucial for deciduous teeth.
• Currently, this guideline is not universally implemented.
• Most parents (>95%) utilize well-baby clinics for newborns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe potential collaboration models between well-baby clinics and oral care professionals.
• To outline strategies for earlier contact with young children and parents for preventive dental care in the Netherlands.
• To highlight existing collaborative projects.

Main Methods:

• Review of the Dutch clinical practice guideline
• Oral Care for Children and Young People.
• Description of collaborative projects between well-baby clinics and oral care.
• Examples include the Gezonde Peutermonden project, GigaGaaf project, and a Haarlem practice initiative.

Main Results:

• Several pilot projects demonstrate collaboration between well-baby clinics and oral care providers.
• These projects aim to enhance early access to preventive dental services.
• The long-term impact of these collaborations on children's caries prevalence is currently under evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Collaboration between well-baby clinics and oral care professionals offers a promising avenue for early dental intervention.
• Integrating preventive dental care within existing well-baby clinic services can improve reach.
• Further research is needed to ascertain the effectiveness of these collaborative models in reducing pediatric caries.