AWARENESS OF THE ORAL HEALTH OF PEDIATRIC PATIENTS AMONG THE PEDIATRICIANS IN AHMEDABAD CITY-

There is a huge difference between a pediatric patient and an adult patient in two significant ways.[1] Primarily, the child does not self-govern on improving the oral and systemic health care. Secondly the difference in the perception of the child and adult in reaction to the oral pathology. Children clearly are at increased risk of infection. The CDC has reported that carious appearance in the oral cavity is the most prevalent infectious disease in children.[2] A more detailed report suggests that around 40 percent of pediatric children have oral caries by the period of kindergarten.[3] The age group of 0-12 years is a vulnerable target for the bacterial, viral and fungal infections. To avoid any such infections to develop and for appropriate vaccination, the pediatricians are first doctors to be consulted. A pediatrician is a child’s physician who manages the physical, mental as well as social well-being. Parents are usually concerned with any minor lesion that appear in the oral cavity of children. Hence the pediatricians must be capable to distinguish the normal clinical appearance from the pathology.The pediatrician should be able to diagnose not only the tissue lesions but also the tooth structure anomalies. Early