AAP Policy
brings together a constellation of policy documents from the American Academy
of Pediatrics. The following AAP Policy documents
relate to oral health.
Guidelines
for Monitoring and Management of Pediatric Patients During and After Sedation
for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures: An Update
The American Academy
of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry joint statement
provides guidelines for all medical and dental practitioners regarding the monitoring
and management of pediatric patients during and after sedation. The sedation of
children is different from the sedation of adults. Children often require deeper
levels of sedation to control their behavior for safe completion of a procedure,
and they are particularly vulnerable to the physiological effects of sedating
medications.
Oral
Health Risk Assessment Timing and Establishment of the Dental Home
Pediatricians
and pediatric health care professionals should develop the knowledge base to perform
oral health risk assessments on all patients beginning at 6 months of age. Patients
who have been determined to be at risk of development of dental caries or who
fall into recognized risk groups should be directed to establish a dental home
6 months after the first tooth erupts or by 1 year of age (whichever comes first).
The
Pediatrician’s Role in Community Pediatrics
For many pediatricians,
efforts to promote the health of children have been directed at attending to the
needs of particular children in a practice setting, on an individual basis, and
providing them with a medical home. Increasingly, however, the major threats to
the health of America's children arise from problems that cannot be adequately
addressed by the practice model alone. "We must become partners with others,
or we will become increasingly irrelevant to the health of children."
The
Medical Home
Efforts to establish medical homes for all children have
encountered many challenges, including the existence of multiple interpretations
of the "medical home" concept and the lack of adequate reimbursement
for services provided by physicians caring for children in a medical home. This
new policy statement contains an expanded and more comprehensive interpretation
of the concept and an operational definition of the medical home.
Oral
and Dental Aspects of Child Abuse and Neglect
Physicians with experience
or expertise in child abuse and neglect should make themselves available to dentists
and to dental organizations as consultants and educators. Such efforts will strengthen
our ability to prevent and detect child abuse and neglect and enhance our ability
to care for and protect children. | 
