Early childhood caries

Microbial Biofilms

Published in Bakrudeen Ali Ahmed Abdul, Microbial Biofilms, 2020

Infections that directly lead to tooth decay can have a ranging spectrum of invasion, where, for example, early childhood caries are a rather harmful consequence of infections caused by biofilms (Koo and Bowen 2014). Given the fact that the surface of the teeth can produce the most obvious signs of infection, immediate action has to be shown for the prevention of further development and onset of complications.

Oral health of children in Aotearoa New Zealand–time for change

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Journal Information

Published in Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2022

Dorothy H. Boyd, Susan M. Moffat, Lyndie A. Foster Page, J. Kura Lacey (Te Arawa iwi, Ngāti Whakaue hapū and Ngāruahine iwi, Okahu/Inuawai hapū), Kathryn N. Fuge, Arun K. Natarajan, Tule F. Misa (Tule fanakava Misa of Te'ekiu, Kanokupolu, Tonga Island), W. Murray Thomson

For Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) children, good oral health has become a luxury that most Māori and Pasifika children, and those of low socio-economic status, do not enjoy. By age 5 years, three out of five Māori, seven out of ten Pasifika and one out of three non-Māori/non-Pasifika children have already experienced dental caries (‘tooth decay’), making it the most prevalent non-communicable disease (NCD) in NZ children (Ministry of Health 2021a), as well as worldwide (Marcenes et al. 2013). Dental caries is the process by which the hard tissues of teeth are demineralised by organic acids arising from the microbial metabolism of dietary free sugars (Banerjee et al. 2020), resulting in carious lesions, popularly known as ‘cavities’. The term ‘early childhood caries’ (ECC) refers to the disease in the primary dentition in young children.

Early childhood caries

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Microbial Biofilms

Oral health of children in Aotearoa New Zealand–time for change