Early Childhood Caries

Excerpt

The presence of dental caries in the primary dentition of young children is known as early childhood caries (ECC), which is defined as one or more decayed, missing (resulting from caries) or filled teeth in primary dentition in children of up to 71 months of age.

The term early childhood caries includes the sometimes called nursing caries and rampant caries. “Baby bottle syndrome,” “nursing caries,” or “bottle mouth caries” are names to describe a pattern of caries where the deciduous upper incisors and molars are more severely disrupted. A key feature of this type of caries is the sparing of the lower incisors, which can be completely healthy or mildly affected. The term rampant caries is usually given to extensive caries affecting children of three to four years of age that do not follow the nursing caries pattern.

Despite early childhood caries can be easily preventable, it is one of the most prevalent childhood diseases worldwide, mainly affecting socially disadvantaged populations.