February 24, 2025

Reminders for Dentists During Children’s Dental Health Month

By: Renuka Rao Bijoor, DDS, MPH

As a pediatric dentist, one of the nicest and most fulfilling times is in February, when we visit local schools, daycares and Head Start programs to spread the word about the importance of good oral health.

February is Children’s Dental Health Month, and it is a good reminder to the dental profession to take time out of their regular routine and focus on children’s oral health, the importance of starting good oral healthcare habits at an early age and scheduling regular dental visits. Giving these nuggets of powerful information to parents and caregivers helps them realize how important it is to start children early for a lifetime of good oral health.

It is such a fallacy to think that baby teeth should not be considered important as they will eventually fall out anyway. There are many reasons why baby teeth should be cared for just as well as permanent teeth, if not better. Early intervention is most important to avoid cavities getting worse, to prevent unnecessary pain and possible swelling in children, inability to focus in class, loss of school days and loss of workdays for parents, too. It is imperative that carious lesions be addressed in a timely fashion to avoid unnecessarily lengthy and more traumatic procedures if allowed to get bigger. Studies show that when the first set of permanent molars erupt at age 6, bacteria from untreated cavities in primary teeth could easily colonize these new molars and start carious lesions in these newly erupted molars (and hence the importance of sealants!). It is important to treat cavities in baby teeth, too, since the first primary molars do not exfoliate until age 9, at the earliest, and the second molars exfoliate between 10 and 12 years of age. In addition, primary teeth are the precursors of the permanent teeth, so good oral habits set the trend for a lifetime of well-maintained oral health!

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), dental caries are the most common chronic disease in children – and it is preventable! It is important to realize that dental visits beginning at age 1 should become the norm. The myth that the first visit should be at the age of 3 needs to be dispelled. Tiny Smiles, a wonderful program run by the American Dental Association (ADA) Foundation, is full of free resources, with “the main objective to increase the number of dentists comfortable and willing to provide oral health services to children by age 1.”

The CDC also says that more than half of children aged 6 to 8 have had a cavity in at least one of their baby teeth, and more than half of adolescents aged 12 to 19 have had a cavity in at least one of their permanent teeth. Children aged 5 to 19 years from low-income families are twice as likely (25%) to have cavities, compared with children from higher-income households (11%).

The history of National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM) goes back to Feb. 3, 1941, when it began as a one-day event in Cleveland, Ohio. Thereafter, the ADA held the first national observance of Children’s Dental Health Day on Feb. 8, 1949. The single day observance became a weeklong event in 1955. In 1981, it was extended to a monthlong program called the National Children’s Dental Health Month, now a nationwide program, with the kickoff on the first Friday of the month. Dentists and other members of the dental team hold coloring and essay contests, health fairs, free dental screenings and oral health presentations, spreading the message across the country and at numerous armed services bases and reaching millions of people.

The other important event on the first Friday in February is the Give Kids a Smile (GKAS) program kickoff. The first GKAS program was held by Drs. Jeff Dalin and B. Ray Storm in 2002, in a run-down dental clinic in St. Louis, where nearly 400 children received free dental care using 15 dental chairs. The ADA “recognized that this grassroots effort had great potential to raise awareness nationally about the importance of oral health to overall health, and about the staggering need that exists among millions of children who go without care. So, in 2003, Give Kids A Smile evolved into a nationwide program with the goal of providing free oral health care to underserved children.”

The vision of the GKAS program is to ensure access to quality oral healthcare for all children, focusing mainly on as many underserved children as possible. The program also strives to raise awareness among the public and policymakers about how limited access to care is.

I so enjoyed providing free care for the children in my community during our office GKAS day every year for almost 15 years that I agreed to be recruited as a GKAS Ambassador and received special training in St. Louis to take this program to other institutions and places. I had the privilege of starting the GKAS Program with Dean Ronnie Myers at the new Touro College of Dental Medicine in 2017, and the huge success of the event and the enthusiasm of the faculty and students has made it a self-running program now. The joy of seeing the happy children at these events is truly what makes all the volunteered time and effort worthwhile. The children and their families finally find a dental home and their dental needs are identified.

Children’s Dental Health Month is indeed a unique and rewarding opportunity to bring awareness of the importance of early oral care to the public and a wonderful way to give back to the community! Do try to find a local daycare or elementary school where you could volunteer your time to do a short presentation on oral health – you will find it so rewarding for sure!

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This document is for general purposes only and should not be construed as medical or legal advice. This document is not comprehensive and does not cover all possible factual circumstances. Because the facts applicable to your situation may vary, or the laws applicable in your jurisdiction may differ, please contact your attorney or other professional advisors for any questions related to legal, medical, dental or professional obligations, the applicable state or federal laws or other professional questions.