Early childhood caries: experience in Nigerian children at Lagos

Objective of the paper was to assess the prevalence of Early Childhood Caries among Nigerian children aged 6 months to 5 years, describe the pattern and relate it to the socioeconomic status of their parents/guardians.

It was a descriptive study carried out in three randomly selected local government areas in Lagos State. Questionnaires designed to provide information on the socio-economic status of the parents were completed by one of the authors. All the children were examined using sterile instruments for the presence of early childhood caries.

The prevalence of early childhood caries amongst the children was 10.5%, among them 4.8% had severe early childhood caries. Early childhood caries was observed in children as early as 13 months. The primary incisors were most affected. Only 17 (4.4%) had visited the dentist.

There was a tendency towards higher caries level in children of higher socio-economic status. Preschool children had great demand for restorative care.