Policy on School-Entrance Oral Health Examinations

Policy statement

Early detection and management of oral conditions can improve a child’s oral health, general health and well-being, and school readiness. Recognizing the relationship between oral health and education, the AAPD:

• advocates legislation requiring a comprehensive oral health examination by a qualified dentist for every student prior to matriculation into school. The examination should be performed in sufficient detail to provide meaningful information to a consulting dentist and/or public health officials. This would include documentation of oral health history, soft tissue health/pathologic conditions, oral hygiene level, variations from a normal eruption/ exfoliation pattern, dental dysmorphology or discoloration, dental caries (including noncavitated lesions), and existing restorations. The examination also should provide an educational experience for both the child and the parent. The child/parent dyad should be made aware of age-related caries-risk and caries-protective factors, as well as the benefits of a dental home.
• recognizes that without requiring, tracking, and funding appropriate follow-up care, requiring oral health examinations is insufficient to ensure school readiness and, therefore, advocates such legislation to include subsequent comprehensive oral examinations at periodic intervals throughout the educational process because a child’s risk for developing dental disease changes and oral diseases are cumulative and progressive.
• encourages local leaders to establish a referral system to help parents obtain needed oral health care and establish a dental home for their children.
• encourages state and local public health and education officials, along with other stakeholders such as health care providers and dental/medical organizations, to document oral health needs, to work toward improved oral health and school readiness for all children, and to address related issues such as barriers to oral health care.
• opposes regulations that would prevent a child from attending school due to noncompliance with required examinations.
• encourages its members and the dental community at large to volunteer in programs for school-entry dental examinations to benefit the oral and general health of the pediatric community.