OHRA - High-Risk Group for Caries

High-Risk Group for Caries

	Children with special health care needs

	Children from low socioeconomic and ethnocultural groups

	Children with suboptimal exposure to topical or systemic fluoride

	Children with poor dietary and feeding habits

	Children whose caregivers and/or siblings have caries

	Children with visible caries, white spots, plaque, or decay

	The AAP policy statement “Oral Health Risk Assessment Timing and Establishment of the Dental Home” identifies that the following groups are at risk for early childhood dental caries:
			Children with special health care needs
			Children of mothers with a high caries rate
			Children with demonstrable caries, plaque, demineralization, and/or staining
			Children who sleep with a bottle or breastfeed throughout the night
			Children in families of low socioeconomic status

	If an infant is assessed to be within 1 of these risk groups, it is recommended that he or she be referred to a dentist as early as 6 months of age and no later than 6 months after the first tooth erupts or 12 months of age (whichever comes first).