Oral Health Disparities Affecting Children in Haiti

Children with oral health disparities

The low dentist to population ratio in Haiti results in dental services consisting almost entirely of emergency/immediate care. This type of care almost always ends up with dental extractions, if that, with limited availability of dental care. Pre-adolescents and 17-year-old adolescents in Haiti essentially do not receive restorative dental care, in fact, they receive very limited dental extraction services. At the population level, permanent dentition caries in early adolescence is a minimal health problem, however, at the individual level, those children that are afflicted with decay are without dental services for all practical purposes and eventually, virtually every decayed tooth if left unattended progress. This may result in tooth destruction and/or infection. Early detection may prevent the need for more extensive treatment later. We, at IRSGINC, try to reach children in Haiti who don’t have the benefit of regular dental visits.