Abstract
Introduction: Early childhood caries (ECC) is any caries in the primary dentition occurring in children under the age of six. ECC is common in many population groups in Canada.Objective: The purpose of this review was to describe the burden of ECC in Canada, the prevalence and associated risk factors for ECC, and its impact on childhood health based on the existing published literature.Methods: A review was conducted to assess published Canadian studies on ECC identified through searches of electronic databases. Databased searched included PubMed, Medline, Cinahl, and the library catalog of the University of Manitoba. Known publications on ECC that were not identified by the electronic search were also considered. Only the studies that reported the prevalence of ECC or caries in preschool aged children were considered. In-depth assessments were restricted to those studies that employed logistic regression analysis to investigate relationship between ECC and risk factors or nutritional status and quality of life.Results: A total of 36 studies were identified that related to ECC in Canadian children. Overall, 27 related to prevalence and 12 reported on risk factors, four related to the association between severe ECC and nutritional health and well-being, while only one related to the oral microbiome composition. Published studies reveal that the prevalence of ECC can be as high as 98% in some parts of Canada. Commonly identified risk factors include age, sex, socio-economic status, parental beliefs, family characteristics, debris/plaque, enamel hypoplasia, and behavioral (oral health or feeding behaviors) tendencies.Conclusions: Current literature reveals that many Canadian children are affected by ECC. The development of ECC appears to be strongly associated with social determinants of health including low household income and the level of parental education or employment status. Associations were also observed between ECC and the child's age at first dental visit and parental beliefs about child's oral health. Children with enamel hypoplasia are also at significantly greater odds for experiencing caries. Future research should include assessments of developmental defects of enamel to better understand the association between enamel hypoplasia and ECC.
Highlights
Childhood caries (ECC) is any caries in the primary dentition occurring in children under the age of six
The results suggested that the period of time spent under Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) care did not significantly influence the risk of having S-Early Childhood Caries (ECC) (OR = 1.29, p = 0.73) [43]
Current literature reveals that many Canadian children are affected by ECC
Summary
Childhood caries (ECC) is any caries in the primary dentition occurring in children under the age of six. ECC is a multifactorial chronic disease, which is influenced by biomedical factors such as diet, the oral microbiome, tooth integrity and by underlying social determinants of health [1, 2] This includes low socioeconomic status (SES), parental education, maternal nutrition, and psychosocial issues [3,4,5]. Numerous young Canadian children experience significant oral health problems, ECC This is especially true for First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, recent refugees and immigrants (i.e., newcomers), those living in low SES households, and children from geographically remote regions of the country [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. The challenge is that those most at risk for ECC are often those with the greatest barriers in accessing oral health care services
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