Archives of Dental Research 2022;12(2):81–88 Content available at: https://www.ipinnovative.com/open-access-journals Archives of Dental Research Journal homepage: https://www.adr.org.in/ Review Article Early childhood caries- Etiology, prevention and management: A Review Sharbari Dutta 1, *, Abinash Mohapatra 2 1 Senior Research Officer, International Institute of Health Management Research, New Delhi, India 2 Dept. of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Kalinga Institute of Dental Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 27-12-2022 Accepted 07-01-2023 Available online 20-02-2023 Keywords: Early Childhood Caries Vertical transmission of caries Streptococcus mutans Sucrose Plaque Probiotics CCPACP ABSTRACT Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a severe debilitating disease affecting the primary dentition of young children in both developing and industrialized countries. Historically, the management of ECC has a global scenario showing operative management of the disease. The contemporary method of preventing the carious process mainly focuses on dietary factors, host factors and removal of plaque biofilm. Enamel demineralization is caused by acidogenic and aciduric bacteria. Colonization of microorganisms in the mouth of children can occur via horizontal or vertical transmission or both. The bacteria present in dental plaque metabolize sugars and starches to produce acids, which lowers the pH in the mouth and promotes loss of minerals from the tooth surface. Sucrose is the most common sugar and when metabolized, produces dextrans which promote superior bacterial adhesion to teeth. Visible plaque on the labial surfaces of the maxillary incisors were strongly associated with the caries development. Saliva buffers plaque acids, aids in oral clearance and acts as a reservoir for minerals to assist in the mineralization of enamel. Most studies have put forward a correlation between bed time use of bottles with sweetened contents especially lactose. One of the factors included by Newbrun in factors causing dental caries is time. The CPP- ACP complex, an effective remineralizing complex preventing the acidic environment reduce incidence of caries. Conventional probiotics comprised of lactobacilli and bifidobacterium which were mainly of intestinal origin; the contemporary probiotic research has brought forward that oral diseases like dental caries, periodontal problems and candida infections have direct link with oral microbial disequilibria. A promising new approach towards primary prevention of the disease is to target the infectious component of Early Childhood Caries by preventing or delaying acquisition of Streptococcus mutans at an early age. This is an Open Access (OA) journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: reprint@ipinnovative.com 1. Introduction Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a severe debilitating disease affecting the primary dentition of young children in both developing and industrialized countries, the term is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) to describe a unique pattern of carious lesions in infants, toddlers, and preschool children. 1,2 Severe Early Childhood Caries (s ECC) is the severe form of the disease, seen to develop soon after eruption of primary teeth * Corresponding author. E-mail address: d.sharbari@gmail.com (S. Dutta). on smooth surfaces and may leave a lasting detrimental effect on the dentition unlike any other disease. 3 During the era of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic when “social distancing” is the new normal preventive cure of ECC becomes utmost important. 4 ECC is not self limiting and it requires professional intervention to prevent serious complications (dental pain, infections, abscesses) which further may lead to malnutrition and gastrointestinal disorders and may even cause difficulty during sleep, concentration deficits, distraction from learning and restricted activity, thus affecting the overall quality of life and health of the individual and their family. 5 https://doi.org/10.18231/j.adr.2022.015 2277-3401/© 2022 Innovative Publication, All rights reserved. 81