Oral Health
Nutrition Care Process (Toolkits)
Last Updated: 2023-05-01
Target Group: All Adults, All children(0-12 yr.), Youth(13-17 yr.)
Key Nutrition Issues
Description
Early childhood caries (ECC) has multiple etiologies and is considered a preventable, infectious bacterial disease of primary dentition (1,2). ECC are diagnosed when there is a presence of one or more decayed (non-cavitated or cavitated) teeth, missing teeth due to caries, or non-cavitated or cavitated filled tooth surfaces in a child at the age of 72 months or younger (3).
Early childhood caries (ECC) has multiple etiologies and is considered a preventable, infectious bacterial disease of primary dentition (1,2). ECC are diagnosed when there is a presence of one or more decayed (non-cavitated or cavitated) teeth, missing teeth due to caries, or non-cavitated or cavitated filled tooth surfaces in a child at the age of 72 months or younger (3).
In children younger than three years, smooth-surface caries are a sign of severe early childhood caries. A