The Early Childhood Caries Project is a collaborative effort between the Catalyst Institute, Children’s Hospital Boston, and St. Joseph Hospital for Specialty Care in Providence, Rhode Island to implement evidence-based methods of managing and preventing early childhood tooth decay in patients seeking treatment at hospital-based dental clinics.

Early Childhood Caries

Dental caries (also known as tooth decay) is a chronic, infectious disease, but completely preventable. However, without treatment, dental caries progresses to cause cavities, pain, tooth loss, and infection. The results are eating and speech problems, and negatively impacted learning in children and lower productivity for parents.

Hospital-based dental clinics care for a disproportionate number of low-income and racial and ethnic minority children with early childhood caries. Many of the children end up being treated surgically, with months-long backlogs for expensive operating room care and a high rate of reoccurrence after treatment.

By using the evidence-based protocol of care, the program aims to reduce early childhood caries in this patient group, reducing the frequency of operating room treatments and instances of reoccurrence.

Project Goals

The goal of the program is to reduce the percentage of patients with new cavitations by 33%, reduce the percentage of patients who are treated in the Operating Room by 20%, and reduce the percentage of patients complaining of pain on their most recent visit by 50%.

Reducing the number of caries is expected to demonstrate that cost savings realized by evidence-based care will lead to a lower frequency of patients being treated surgically, thus providing a sustainable business model for the program.

Timeline

Patient enrollment began in March 2008, with complete findings scheduled to be released in fall 2009.