Comprehensive Dental Care Protocol for children up to age 5

Abstract

Introduction: Dental care for the young child in Latin America began in Brazil in 1983 through the implementation of the "Dental Care Plan for the First Year of Life" program, whose praxis is based on the philosophy of educational, preventive and curative dental treatment for children in the first year of life with extensive longitudinal follow-up; led by Dr. Luiz Reinaldo de Figueiredo Walter and collaborators attached to the Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics discipline of the State University of Londrina. Objective: To design a protocol for comprehensive dental care for children up to 5 years of age and their parents or caregivers. Methodology: Projective, non-experimental research with cross-sectional design and documentary sources from the scientific literature that established the best possible levels of evidence to support the formulation of the protocol. Results: the protocol was structured in 4 phases: I Initial Phase (care of the pregnant woman, mother and child), II Diagnostic Phase (care of the child), III Preventive Phase, IV Curative Phase of the child. Conclusion: There is sufficient scientific evidence available to affirm that dental care for children under 5 years of age is fundamental to guarantee a future adult population with adequate oral health. The implementation of the proposed protocol will contribute to the control of oral disease processes such as CPI-Severa, malocclusion, periodontitis and their common risk factors with non-communicable diseases.