What Are the Primary Dental Health Problems of Head Start Children?
Head Start positively affected the number of children receiving dental examinations in the previous year by providing examinations, arranging for examinations, or assisting the families in getting the children to examinations. Overall, parent reports, in conjunction with reviews of the child health files, indicate that 96.4% of the Head Start children received dental examinations in the past year. Over 92% of the Health Coordinators reported that their programs provide or arrange dental examinations for children enrolled in Head Start and that most of the examinations are conducted off-site. Dental conditions were among the health conditions more likely to be detected after Head Start enrollment. Almost 42% of the parents reported that their child had an identified dental condition and over 80% of the identified conditions were dental caries. Of those parents reporting dental problems, almost 54% of the dental treatments recommended for the child’s dental condition were fillings. Over
