ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – Caries disease is a chronic bacterial infection that can form in the mouth from bacteria feeding on sugars and starches from food, causing teeth to decay.
It’s the number one chronic disease affecting children. Dentists say it’s 100% preventable, but there are many roadblocks, one being that access to pediatric dental care is very low in the region.
“Not every kid will sit in your chair, open their mouth, here, clean my teeth. So, there’s a lot of behavior involvement and, you know, literacy,” said Karina Miller, Pediatric Dentist at Carilion Clinic. “So, there is in the state, especially our area in the Valley, a shortage, not only of hygienists, but mostly of pediatric dentists that are capable to see those children that have more fearful, more anxious, or even the smaller ones.”…