Prevalence and factors leading to early childhood caries among children (71 months of age or younger) in Karachi, Pakistan

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) and factors leading to it among 71 months of age children or younger in Karachi, Pakistan. ECC is a preventable chronic disease affecting infants and children worldwide. The early detection of ECC can reduce pain and life threatening conditions and help growth and development of infant and children. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Karachi, Pakistan. About 650 mothers of children (71 months of age or younger) were randomly selected and interviewed using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The dental examination was performed by the dentist, who was calibrated against a standard examiner using World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The data was entered and analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16 software. ECC was found in 23.5% of children with mean decayed missing and filled teeth (dmft) of 0.67. The factors identified were age of the child, mother educational and occupational status, sweetened drink consumption at night and not utilizing routine dental health care services. This study concluded that high proportion of ECC was found among children (71 months of age children or younger) and factors identified were all preventable and needs attention to promote dental health education and routine dental visits.   Key words: Early childhood caries (ECC), mothers, risk factors, children 6 to 71 months of age.