Reducing Early Childhood Tooth Decay: Leading Steps for State Policymakers

Young children who are enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) can be at risk for developing early childhood caries (ECC). ECC is a chronic bacterial infection that causes severe tooth decay and can begin to develop before baby teeth erupt. Children with ECC may experience pain, difficulty eating, developmental complications, and loss of days in day care or preschool. ECC is expensive to treat and untreated ECC can lead to other serious infections.

Along with asthma and obesity, ECC is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood in the United States. Children living in households with incomes below the federal poverty level, who are likely to be enrolled in Medicaid, are twice as likely to have untreated ECC as children in higher-income households. Improving the way Medicaid programs and CHIP approach ECC has the greatest potential benefit for children.