Nursing caries: a comprehensive review.

Nursing caries is a specific form of rampant decay of the primary teeth of infants. The distinguishing features of rampant caries are: (1) many teeth are involved; (2) lesion development is rapid; and (3) carious lesions occur on surfaces generally considered to be at low risk to decay, such as proximal surfaces of mandibular anterior teeth, facial surfaces of maxillary anterior teeth, and lingual surfaces of posterior teeth. A key feature of nursing caries is the usual absence of decay of the mandibular incisors, thus differentiating this condition from classical rampant caries.