Available evidence suggests that sealants are effective and safe to prevent or arrest the progression of noncavitated carious lesions compared with a control without sealants or fluoride varnishes. Further research is needed to provide information about the relative merits of the different types of sealant materials.

Our results suggested SDF was effective in arresting active caries lesions in primary teeth in young children and was well accepted by parents. SDF offers an easy and highly efficient nonsurgical alternative treatment to traditional restorative dental treatment in young children, and it has great potential to aid the dental public health community to address dental caries in at-risk populations.

These recommendations are designed to inform practitioners during the clinical decision-making process in relation to the prevention of occlusal carious lesions in children and adolescents. Clinicians are encouraged to discuss the information in this guideline with patients or the parents of patients. The authors recommend that clinicians reorient their efforts toward increasing the use of sealants on the occlusal surfaces of primary and permanent molars in children and adolescents.

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the association of food insecurity on the prevalence of dental caries in preschool children. Methods Eighty‐two children, aged 12‐71 months old, from the Marquette University School of Dentistry Community South Clinic and their caregivers participated in this cross‐sectional study. Following informed consent, parents completed the validated six‐item US Department of Agriculture food insecurity questionnaire and questions regarding demographic information and family structure. Upon clinical examination caries was recorded using the decayed, missing, filled teeth (dmft) index based on the International Caries Detection and Assessment System criteria. Results The correlation between dmft and food insecurity was found statistically significant (P = 0.002, R2 = 0.115), and children of higher food insecurity demonstrated higher levels of dental caries. Food insecurity was also positively correlated with parental age (P = 0.034), whereby higher levels of food insecurity were associated with the father being less than 25 years of age. Results from the questionnaire revealed that 58.5 percent of the families were fully secure, 11.0 percent had marginal, 24.4 percent had low, and 6.1 percent had very low food security. Results from clinical examination reported dmft 4.09 ± 4.38, dt 2.20 ± 2.83, and ft 1.83 ± 2.95. Most of the children (79.7 percent) were Hispanic, 53.1 percent were female and the median age of the sample was 48 months. Conclusions Results of the present study suggest that preschool children with food insecurity have higher levels of dental caries.

US children experiencing certain social risk factors, such as low family income, high school education or less, and poor maternal mental health, are likely to be at greater risk for poor dental health and low levels of dental-care seeking behavior. Children experiencing multiple social risks are at greater risk for poor oral outcomes than children who experience fewer social risks. An approach that involves the social determinants of health is needed to address these issues.