Common pediatric dental problems.

Physicians who provide primary care for children have a unique position to provide diagnostic, triage, educational, and preventive dental care for patients. Several papers have been published regarding primary pediatricians' participation in the preventive dental health care of their patients. One publication, a survey of physicians in Alabama focusing on physicians' overall awareness of dental issues, concluded that most physicians believe they have a role in the oral health of their patients, yet most were not aware of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's recommendations. Most physicians report that they routinely perform oral examinations during physical examinations of children and deliver preventive, oral information by the age of 6 months or earlier; however, most recommend that infants' first visit should be at 3 years of age, not at the time of first-tooth eruption as the authors recommend. Furthermore, many primary care physicians do not talk about oral health during prenatal counseling. Many physicians understand the preventive advantages of fluoride, yet most do not prescribe vitamin combinations that contain fluoride. If an understanding of the aforementioned issues of dental care, as well as aspects of preventive care in infants and children, become more uniform among primary care physicians, the prevention-based practice of pediatric dentistry will become much more successful, and children and adults will enjoy better dental health.