In November 2009, the American Dental Association Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations, in cooperation with the Indian Health Service Division of Oral Health, co-hosted a Symposium on Early Childhood Caries in American Indian and Alaska Native Children. A small, select group of individuals was invited to participate, including representatives from three groups: 1) academic researchers with extensive experience in caries research; 2) career IHS dentists and pediatricians; and 3) individuals with expertise leading health research in AI/AN communities. The preliminary objectives of the Symposium were to:
1. Establish a common knowledge base among Symposium participants of ECC in tribal communities, including past programmatic and research efforts to control ECC, the current ECC epidemiology in AI/AN and other U.S. children, and preliminary data from ECC research in progress.
2. Review the current state of the science about the initiation and progression of severe ECC, with special emphasis on the bacterial etiology of the disease.
3. Understand the limitations in generalizing the results of ECC prevention research done in non-Indian communities to AI/AN communities.
4. Identify cultural, demographic and institutional factors that are likely to influence clinical research and programmatic efforts to control ECC in Indian communities.
5. Develop research questions to fill in gaps in the understanding of why ECC is so severe among AI/AN children.
6. Make recommendations to the American Dental Association, Indian Health Service, and other relevant organizations for the next steps to be taken to improve ECC prevention and research.
Click here for a copy of the proceedings from the 2009 Symposium (also available at ADA.org). A longer, more in-depth Symposium is being planned for 2010. For more information, contact:
Gary D. Podschun
Manager, Community Outreach and Cultural Competence
ADA Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations
e-mail: podschung@ada.org
phone: (312) 440-7847