Early childhood caries and its association with socio-behavioural and parental factors among 2-6 year old children

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2016 in the subject Medicine - Dentistry, , language: English, abstract: Oral health is related to general health and quality of life, which emphasizes the importance of retaining good functional dentition. It is associated with development of healthy personality, perception and enables an individual to speak, eat and socialize without active disease and discomfort. The role of nutrition is also related to poor oral health affecting growth and cognitive development that leads to medical complications of untreated diseases, and result in poor social outcomes. Despite the great improvement in oral health, many countries still encounter oral diseases which are widely prevalent, more so in the developing countries like India. Dental diseases, such as Dental caries, Periodontal disease and Oral mucosal lesions, are the major public health problem throughout the world with the high prevalence due to altered life style and eating habits. The burden of Oral disease is particularly high for the disadvantageous and poor population groups in both developing and developed countries. Dental caries is an epidemic disease affecting humans of all ages in regions of most common disease of children. Among all the dental diseases, the prevalence of dental caries in India is increasing referred as 'Disease of civilization.' According to Centre for Disease Control & Prevention, dental caries is perhaps the most prevalent infectious disease. Although it is well understood and preventable but still a global problem among children and young adults. More than 40% of children have caries by the time they reach kindergarten.