Open AccessPrevalence of early childhood caries in 8 - 48 month old preschool children of Bangalore city, South India
Author(s) -
Priya Subramaniam,
PV Prashanth
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
contemporary clinical dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.289
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 0976-237X
pISSN - 0976-2361
DOI - 10.4103/0976-237x.94540
Subject(s) - early childhood caries , medicine , oral health , dentistry , environmental health , statistical analysis , demography , statistics , mathematics , sociology
Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a devastating form of dental decay having a multi - factorial origin. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of ECC in Bangalore city, South India, and also to study its associated risk factors. Random sample of 1500 children, aged between 8 - 48 months, was selected from play homes and nursing homes of various parts of the city. Dental caries was recorded according to World Health Organization criteria. Information regarding risk factors for caries was obtained through a structured questionnaire given to mothers or caretakers. The data was subjected to statistical analysis. The prevalence of ECC was 27.5% and the mean decayed, extracted and filled tooth index was 0.854. There was a strong association of ECC with the risk factors studied.