AIM To assess the parental oral health literacy of children with severe early childhood caries. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 315 children diagnosed with severe early childhood caries, and their parents were recruited to participate in the study. A clinical examination was conducted to assess the children's oral health status. Their parents were asked to complete a Hong Kong Oral Health Li...

Background: The infectious nature of severe early-childhood caries (S-ECC) points to the possible participation of immunologic host responses including neutrophils and their antimicrobial products. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the neutrophil apoptosis, α-defensins (HNP1-3) and calprotectin levels in the saliva of preschool children and the association with S-ECC. Methods: ...

Early childhood caries (ECC) has been regarded as one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in early childhood. Many studies show ECC was often neglected and most of the decay was left untreated [1]. Early treatment of ECC is important because untreated caries can lead to pain, sepsis and spreading infection, malnutrition due to the inability to eat, and poor general health. Children with seve...

Abstract: Severe early childhood caries remains the most common chronic disease affecting children. .Its multifactorial etiology lead to the controversy about which risk factors were more significant to its development. Therefore our study aimed through meticulous statistical analysis to arrange the “well agreed upon” common risk factors in order of significance to aid the clinician in tailorin...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate dental emergencies treated at a hospital clinic and emergency department (ED) to: (1) analyze emergency types; (2) determine reasons for seeking hospital care; and (3) examine trends compared to previous studies from this institution. METHODS Records of 2,683 emergencies from 1995 to 2003 were reviewed. Demographics, reason for seeking care...

In this paper, the authors review the literature on early childhood caries (ECC) and suggest that it has become a public health problem because of its relatively high and apparently growing prevalence and its rapid progression, which may lead to the destruction of the deciduous dentition. The paper reviews and discusses the definition of early childhood caries and its diagnostic criteria. It th...