Caries Risk Assessment in Children With Special Needs

By Elise Sarvas, DDS, MSD, MPH

Risk assessment is a key component in the prevention and treatment of dental caries.¹Multiple risk assessment tools are available for practitioners, and all place children with special health care needs into moderate- or high-risk categories.^2–4 The term “special health care needs” encompasses a broad range of diagnoses and is comprehensively defined by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry as individuals with “any physical, developmental, mental, sensory, behavioral, cognitive, or emotional impairment or limiting condition that requires medical management, health care intervention, and/or use of specialized services or programs.”⁵ Intake forms and histories help clinicians identify patients with special health care needs. A “review of systems” is a structured way of cataloging a patient’s medical history by organ system, and may be helpful in examining conditions associated with increased caries risk.

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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