Objective: This retrospective survey highlighted the characteristics of children less than six years of age presenting
with early childhood caries(ECC) who had two or more teeth extracted under intravenous sedation
at the Tygerberg Oral Health Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. This survey was carried out in order to
plan a community-appropriate intervention strategy. Methods: Records of 140 patients kept by the pediatric
Dentistry Division met the inclusion criteria and were included in this survey. Most of the patients originate
from economically disadvantaged areas. Results: Diet, feeding and oral hygiene habits were shown to be the
most significant factors that contributed to the development of ECC in these patients. All the children were
either breast- or bottle-fed past one year of age. 93.6% of the children went to sleep with the bottle or while
on the breast and 90% of them were fed on demand during the night. On average, breastfeeding was stopped
at 9 months of age compared to bottle-feeding that, on average, was stopped at a much later mean age of 23
months. Where oral hygiene practices were concerned, 52.6% of children brushed their own teeth without
supervision. Frequency of brushing varied between subjects. Conclusion: The results of this study have
demonstrated that there is a need for culturally appropriate education campaigns to inform parents (especially
those in disadvantaged communities) about the importance of oral health and the prevention of oral
disease.Web of Scienc
