ABSTRACT
Introduction: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a common chronic infectious disease affecting young children and it constitutes a significant public health problem. It is the presence of one or more decayed, missing (due to caries), or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a child under the age of six.
Aim: To determine the trend of ECC and its prevalence in a tertiary health institution in Lagos State.
Methodology: A retrospective study was carried out among children aged 0-5 years presenting with ECC at the Paediatric Dentistry clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) between 2017 and 2023. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0, employing the chi-square test for bivariate associations.
Results: A total of 5,879 patients presented to the dental clinic during the study period, of whom 451 (7.7%) presented with ECC. Two hundred and twenty (48.8%) of them were boys, while 51.2% were girls. Their mean age was 3.94 ± 1.01 years. Most patients presented with incipient lesions/ simple cavitation (50.3%). The Association between the age of presentation and affected teeth was statistically significant at p-value of < 0.05.
Conclusion: The prevalence of ECC was 7.7% and the presentation was at its lowest in the year 2020 and 2021.The majority of patients presented with relatively early (incipient) lesions, hence Glass Ionomer Cement, (GIC) restoration was the treatment mostly carried out.
Keyword: Early childhood caries; Caries; Prevalence, Trend