Neonatal and Pediatric Medicine
Open Access

Perspective Article

A Sociobiological Model of Early Childhood Caries: The Role of Allostatic Load

¹Nursing Department, Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, California, USA

²School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

³Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

*Corresponding Author:

Leah Fitzgerald
Mount Saint Mary’s University
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Tel: 2134772500
E-mail: lfitzgerald@msmu.edu

Received date: June 03, 2017; Accepted date: June 13, 2017; Published date: June 20, 2017

Citation: FitzGerald LZ, Gulvartian N, Ramos-Gomez FJ, Prestwich B (2017) A Sociobiological Model of Early Childhood Caries: The Role of Allostatic Load. Pediatr Dent Care 2: 138. doi: 10.4172/2573-444X.1000138

Copyright: © 2017 FitzGerald LZ, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract Objective: Even though many factors have been linked to increased ECC risk, few studies have specifically presented this information as a single comprehensive model. The purpose of this paper is to review the scope and usefulness of the proposed conceptual model in guiding future research of ECC risk as it relates to allostatic load. Methods: The various social, behavioural, and biological risk factors that emerge from the cumulative effects of chronic stress, defined as allostatic load, are discussed separately before being incorporated into a single sociobiological model of ECC. Results: In addition to biological realities, children experience profound impacts from their environments and family circumstances. The risk of developing ECC is especially pronounced in socially disadvantaged contexts. This information, as it is presented in the proposed conceptual model, reveals unique allostatic factors that work to increase risk at the level of the individual child, family, community, and society. Giving clinicians an idea of these realities has the capacity to more effectively screen and risk stratify children on the basis of dental health in the hopes of ultimately increasing their overall health as well. Conclusion: The proposed model provides a conceptual framework that relates factors of allostatic load to increased ECC risk. It demonstrates that a population-based, interprofessional collaboration strategy is essential to delivering effective prevention and treatment modalities to at-risk children. Future research regarding translational strategies has the capacity to reduce the prevalence of the biological, developmental, and psychosocial risk factors and thus ECC as a whole.

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