The Prevalence of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) and its Associated Risk Factors Among Immigrant Tibetan Pre-School Children in Bylakuppe, Mysore, India

Abstract

Objectives: This study estimated the prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) and related risk factors in a population of immigrant Tibetan preschool children in Bylakuppe of Mysore District; India. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted in 500 preschool children between 10 to 72 months of age in and around Bylakuppe of Mysore district; India; using II stage stratified random sampling. The caries experience was recorded using defs and the deft index. Information regarding risk factors for caries was obtained through a structured questionnaire given to mothers/caretakers. Statistical data analysis: The data was statistically analyzed by using "chi-square" test and "ANOVA" test. Results: The prevalence of ECC in the study sample was significantly high. It was 92.2% with the mean defs score of 10.27 and the mean deft score of 6.15 (p<0.001vhs).Higher prevalence of ECC was found, in children with bottle feeding, addition of sugar to bottle content and to regular food, in-between meal snacking habits and increase intake of sweets like chocolate, candies and toffees, lesser frequency of brushing and child brushing unassisted/unsupervised. Reports of regular visits to the dentist were almost absent in the study population. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the high prevalence of ECC in the study population. Development of strategies and protocols; to prevent and manage ECC, based on the risk factors identified for these population, is essential to curb this oral health problem.

Feeding practices and prevalence of early childhood caries among preschool children in urban and rural areas of Kannur district

“…While in a study conducted by Kushalappa M et al in 2015 (Kaikure MK et al .2015) the results 95% brushed in morning, 90.9% brushed in night and 82.7% brushed both the times. Which was drastically higher than this study.…”