Abstract
Aim. To reveal early childhood caries (ECC) prevalence and surface distribution in primary teeth of 4-35 month old Volgograd c hildren.
Methods. The study was approved by Regional Ethics Committee. A cross-sectional investigation was carried out in Volgograd Paediatric Clinic №15 in 2010. 596 children were randomly assigned to three groups: 288 aged 4-11 months (G1), 220 aged 12-23 months (G2), 88 aged 24-35 months (G3), mean age 9.4 months, 15.5 months and 27.6 months respectively. Informed consent was obtained from mothers. The caries status was assessed by ICDAS-II criteria. Statistical analysis was performed by STATISTICA-6, caries prevalence, surface distribution, indices mean scores and were calculated at a 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results. In G1 97.2% children were caries free, 94.1% in G2 and 70.5% in G3, ICDAS-II score 1-3 was found in 2.8% (CI 1.83-3.77) children in G1, 4.6% (CI 3.19-6.01) in G2, 22.8% (CI 18.33-27.27) in G3. A score 4-6 was only found in 1.3% (CI 0.54-2.06) children in G2 and 6.7% (CI 4.04-9.37) in G3, p<0.001. Most commonly affected teeth were upper medial and central incisors (58.6%) and upper and low first molars (31.4%). Vestibular surfaces of primary teeth were affected in 38.8%, palatal surfaces in 26.4%, occlusal surfaces in 21.0%, medial in 11.0%, distal in 4.6% respectively. Vestibular and palatal surfaces were similarly affected by initial (ICDAS 1-3) and deep (ICDAS 4-6) caries lesions. Deep carious lesions were found in occlusal, medial and distal surfaces.
Conclusions: The caries status assessment by ICDAS-II revealed high ECC prevalence in young Volgograd children; the assessment caries at a non-cavitated level by ICDAS-II may assist practitioners to promote comprehensive treatment planning for young children.
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