Early Childhood Caries
Early childhood caries (ECC), is also referred to as nursing bottle caries and baby bottle tooth decay.
It is a significant public health problem.
If Your child has ECC if there is a presence of one or more decayed (cavitated or non-cavitated), missing (due to cavities), or filled tooth surfaces in any milk tooth in a child under the age of six.
The treatment of Early Childhood Caries SHOULD NOT BE TAKN LIGHTLY. It is extremely necessary to remove & treat the decayed teeth because it is extremely necessary to save the milk teeth of a child.
If the milk teeth remain decayed the infection of the milk teeth can reach the permanent teeth, which is just beneath it waiting to erupt.
ECC also affects the diet and nutrition of the child because having bad teeth leads to inefficient chewing and the infection in the teeth also then in severe cases causes fever and irritability.
Treating ECC helps in improving the overall health of the child and not just dental health.
Common causes of ECC are
· Using Nursing Bottles or Breast Feeding after the child’s 1st Birthday
· Drinking Juices From Ready to use Bottles
Frequent night time bottle-feeding with milk and ad libitum breast-feeding are associated with, but not consistently implicated in, ECC.
Night time bottle feeding with juice, repeated use of a sippy or no-spill cup, and frequent in between meal consumption of sugar-added snacks or drinks (e.g., juice, formula, soda) increase the risk of caries.
While ECC may not arise from breast milk alone, breast-feeding in combination with other carbohydrates has been found in vitro to be highly cariogenic.
Frequent consumption of between-meal snacks and beverages containing sugars increases the risk of caries due to prolonged contact between sugars in the consumed food or liquid and cariogenic bacteria on the susceptible teeth.
Infants should not be given juice from bottles or covered cups that allow them to consume juice throughout the day.
Best practice to reduce the risk of ECC includes twice-daily brushing with fluoridated toothpaste for all children.
· A smear or rice-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste should be used for children less than three years of age.
· A pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste(approximately 0.25 mg fluoride) is appropriate for children aged three to six.
Parents should dispense the toothpaste onto a soft, age-appropriate sized toothbrush and perform or assist with tooth brushing of preschool-aged children.
Professionally-applied topical fluoride treatments also are efficacious in reducing prevalence of ECC.
To decrease the risk of developing ECC, the AAPD (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) encourages professional and at-home preventive measures that include:
1. Avoiding frequent consumption of liquids and/or solid foods containing sugar, in particular:
· Sugar-sweetened beverages (e.g., juices, soft drinks, sports drinks, sweetened tea) in a baby bottle or no-spill training cup.
· Breast-feeding after the first primary tooth begins to erupt and other dietary carbohydrates are introduced.
· Baby bottle use after 12-18 months.
2. Implementing oral hygiene measures no later than the time of eruption of the first primary tooth. Tooth brushing should be performed for children by a parent twice daily, using a soft toothbrush of age-appropriate size.
In children under the age of three, a smear or rice-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste should be used. In
Children who are 3-6, a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste should be used.
3. Providing professionally-applied fluoride varnish treatments for children at risk for ECC.
4. Establishing a dental home (first dental clinic visit) within six months of eruption of the first tooth and no later than 12 months of age to conduct a caries risk assessment and provide parental education including anticipatory guidance for prevention of oral diseases.
To know more log on to aapd.org/ecc