Prevalence of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) and Associated Parental Risk Indicators in Preschool Children aged 36-72 months of Lucknow City: A Cross-Sectional Study

ECC or early childhood caries is contemplated as a major prevalent, chronic condition during childhood. It happens to be a crucial public health issue that has a substantial influence on the lives of individuals and families including communities. Its varied consequences may range from pain and compromised chewing ability affecting the overall growth and development of the child ultimately resulting in a decreased quality of life.1

In various populations of developed countries, the diverse risk factors and underlying causes are being investigated. On the contrary for emerging countries where the incidence of ECC seems to be rising, similar literature is very scanty.2,3 A worldwide variation in ECC prevalence has been observed. According to many research studies in countries that are developed, the incidence of Early Childhood Caries ranges between 1 to 12% as compared to a high prevalence of 70% in developing countries.4,5 The overall prevalence of ECC as reported by research work done in different regions of India ranges between 27 and 42%.6,7,8

ECC happens to be the consequence of a heterogeneous culmination of various factors such as genetic, biological and biochemical together with an additional difficulty of different oral health social determinants.9 Even though biological determinants have been studied in detail, further investigation needs to be done to evaluate the social determinants influencing oral health together with their impact on ECC occurrence and progression.10

Despite the serious problems arising due to ECC together with its high prevalence recorded in developing countries like ours, measures that could contribute to make this condition wholly preventable have not been executed and put into action. This happens to be the most tragic fact regarding this disease.11

Hence, it becomes imperative to have a thorough knowledge on the prevalence of ECC together with its associated risk factors to consequently develop targeted interventions for its prevention ultimately decreasing the total number of children requiring treatment during an emergency.

To the best of our knowledge, since there is no previous literature supporting the association of parental risk indicators and child characteristics with the severity of caries done in the Lucknow population, hence this present study aims to ascertain the prevalence and severity of ECC and its relationship with parental risk indicators in preschool children aged 36 – 72 months old in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.