Assessment of ECC Affecting Anterior Teeth in Children Visiting University Dental Hospital in India

Abstract

Dental caries is one of the most infectious diseases of childhood resulting in chronic progression rate. They are of different types and patterns being rampant caries, nursing bottle caries. These are known to spread from the mother to the baby during infancy. Early childhood caries in the presence of one or more decayed or filled tooth surfaces in any primary teeth in a child 72 months age or younger. It is generally associated with unusual dietary patterns. Caries in children are mainly caused by the bacteria Streptococcus mutans. One of the reasons identified for ECC in children is the improper feeding patterns in children and prolonged use of baby bottles for milk feeding, especially at night. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of ECC anterior teeth in children. A retrospective study was carried out using digital records of 731 subjects. These data were collected from DIAS and coded in MS Excel sheets. The collected data was analysed by computer software SPSS version 21 using Chi-square test and graphical illustration was done. From the above study, it was found that ECC was more prevalent in 2-4 years and predominantly in male children (54.61%). Therefore, from this study, it can be concluded that ECC is highly prevalent in the maxillary anterior teeth in children.