The efforts of the "social processes" RDoC initiative will be crucial in differentiating between these components of social behavior that may underlie mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Primary relevance in schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders
Social anhedonia is a core characteristic of schizotypy, which is defined as a continuum of personality traits that can range from normal to disordered and contributes to risk for psychosis and schizophrenia. Social anhedonia is a dimension of both negative and positive schizotypy. It involves social and interpersonal deficits, but is also associated with cognitive slippage and disorganized speech, both of which fall into the category of positive schizotypy. Not all people with schizophrenia display social anhedonia and likewise, people who have social anhedonia may never be diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder if they do not have the positive and cognitive symptoms that are most frequently associated with most schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.Social anhedonia may be a valid predictor of future schizophrenia-spectrum disorders; young adults with social anhedonia perform in a similar direction to schizophrenia patients in tests of cognition and social behavior, showing potential predictive validity. Social anhedonia usually manifests in adolescence, possibly because of a combination of the occurrence of critical neuronal development and synaptic pruning of brain regions important for social behavior and environmental changes, when adolescents are in the process of becoming individuals and gaining more independence. Treatment
There is no validated treatment for social anhedonia.
After brushing with fluoride toothpaste, rinsing should be avoided and the excess spat out. Many dental professionals include application of topical fluoride solutions as part of routine visits and recommend the use of xylitol and amorphous calcium phosphate products. Silver diamine fluoride may work better than fluoride varnish to prevent cavities. Systemic fluoride is found as lozenges, tablets, drops and water fluoridation. These are ingested orally to provide fluoride systemically. Water fluoridation has been shown to be beneficial to prevent tooth decay, especially in low social economical areas, where other forms of fluoride is not available. However, a Cochrane systematic review found no evidence to suggest that taking fluoride systemically daily in pregnant women was effective in preventing dental decay in their offspring. While some products containing chlorhexidine have been shown to limit the progression of existing tooth decay; there is currently no evidence suggesting that chlorhexidine gels and varnishes can prevent dental caries or reduce the population of Streptococcus mutans in the mouth.An oral health assessment carried out before a child reaches the age of one may help with management of caries. The oral health assessment should include checking the childs history, a clinical examination, checking the risk of caries in the child including the state of their occlusion and assessing how well equipped the childs parent or carer is to help the child prevent caries. In order to further increase a childs cooperation in caries management, good communication by the dentist and the rest of the staff of a dental practice should be used.