Restorative Solutions for Anterior Teeth in Early Childhood Caries

Abstract

Early childhood caries can often result in total destruction of primary anterior teeth. There is a plethora of options for restoring such teeth. However, there is insufficient clinical evidence to suggest that one type of restoration is superior to another. The article aims to review the past and recent restorative options for restoring primary anterior teeth affected by early childhood caries, based on their in-vivo clinical performance over a period of time. The electronic databases and handperformed journal searches identified 46 relevant documents. The variables to decide the long term outcome of the restorative material chosen were operator preferences, esthetic demands by parents, the child's behavior, amount of remaining tooth structure and moisture and hemorrhage control. A lack of long term, controlled clinical data prevents the validation or endorsement of any of the restorative options for repairing carious or traumatized anterior primary teeth.