Early Childhood Caries (ECC): Revisited

The mouth act as "a mirror of health or disease, as a sentinel or early warning system, as an open model for the investigation of different tissues and organs and as a possible source of pathology influencing different other systems and organs." Oral health is one of the most significant component in the normal development of a child. Dental caries is a dynamic process of demineralization and remineralization that can progress or regress depending upon the huge number of variables. Early Childhood Caries (ECC) influences 60% to 90% of pre-school and grown-ups children in both industrialized and developing countries. It is a serious public health burden, medically, socially and financially which is characterized by early onset and rapid progression. Since it is a multi-factorial disease and can be preventable during its early stages i.e., can be stopped and reversed. It can have direct or indirect impact on quality of life (QoL) of a child. This book addresses to look at an update of ECC which is a persistent and possibly widespread public health problem. The diagnosis, epidemiology, etiology, preventive strategies and treatment options of ECC are reviewed and revisited.