OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence, severity and pattern of early childhood caries (ECC) in Moshi Municipality, Tanzania. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. SUBJECTS Three hundred and seventy two randomly selected children aged three to five years (157 males and 215 females) in 2008. RESULTS Overall caries prevalence was 30.1% with...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Screening and preventive interventions by primary care providers could improve outcomes related to early childhood caries. The objective of this study was to update the 2004 US Preventive Services Task Force systematic review on prevention of caries in children younger than 5 years of age. METHODS Searching Medline and the Cochrane Library (through March 2013) and ref...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess a national initiative's effect on prevalence of early childhood caries and untreated decay in zero- to five-year-old Indian/Alaska Native preschool children. METHODS The Indian Health Service (IHS) conducted a five-year Early Childhood Caries Collaborative from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2014. The program used educational materials and rou...

OBJECTIVES Early childhood caries is a highly destructive dental disease which is compounded by the need for young children to be treated under general anaesthesia. In Australia, there are long waiting periods for treatment at public hospitals. In this paper, we examined the costs and patient outcomes of a prevention programme for early childhood caries to assess its value for government servic...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Screening and preventive interventions by primary care providers could improve outcomes related to early childhood caries. The objective of this study was to update the 2004 US Preventive Services Task Force systematic review on prevention of caries in children younger than 5 years of age. METHODS: Searching Medline and the Cochrane Library (through March 2013) and ref...

The 2000 Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health included a limited discussion of the condition known as early childhood caries. Because of its high prevalence, its impact on young children's quality of life and potential for increasing their risk of caries in the permanent dentition, early childhood caries is arguably one of the most serious and costly health conditions among young children. A...

BACKGROUND Children who have severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) weigh significantly less than caries-free children. The association between S-ECC and weight suggests that its timely treatment at early stages may preserve general health, in addition to preventing pain and infection. OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to evaluate whether children with untreated S-ECC had lower weight and hei...

Early childhood dental caries has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be perhaps the most prevalent infectious disease of our nation's children. Early childhood dental caries occurs in all racial and socioeconomic groups; however, it tends to be more prevalent in low-income children, in whom it occurs in epidemic proportions. Dental caries results from an overgrow...