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  • Title: Prevalence of early childhood caries in 3- to 5-year-old children in Philadelphia district, Mpumalanga Province.
    Author: Wanjau J, du Plessis JB.
    Journal: SADJ; 2006 Oct; 61(9):390-2, 394. PubMed ID: 17201306.
    Abstract:
    INTRODUCTION: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) can be defined as dental caries in preschool children. There is a lack of data on the prevalence of ECC at a global, national, regional and district level. Hence the severity and extent of the disease is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to establish the prevalence of ECC among 3- to 5-year-old children from the Philadelphia district in Mpumalanga. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted on 269 children aged between 3 and 5 years. The caries status was determined using the decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index as described by WHO 1997. RESULTS The percentage caries free individuals were 74.6%, 44.2% and 46.6% and the dmft values were 0.93, 2.69 and 2.18 for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds respectively. The mean mt and ft values for 3- and 4-year-olds was zero. Among the 5-year-olds, the mean mt and ft values was 0.01 and 0.02 respectively. CONCLUSION: For a rural community the prevalence of ECC is high. Virtually all caries in preschool children from this community is left untreated. There is a need for a properly planned preventive strategy for this community.
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