Influence of Maternal Risk Factors for Occurrence of Early Childhood Caries in Children – A Literature Review

Abstract

Children with early childhood caries (ECC) may develop caries in their developing permanent teeth also. The etiology of ECC is multifactorial. Amongst the common risk factors, maternal risk factors have been studied a lot and are considered as the risk of developing ECC in primary dentition till 71 months of age. There are various maternal factors that can influence the occurrence of ECC in children, such as the educational level of the mother, socioeconomic status, occupation, mother’s inappropriate feeding practices, frequency of maternal sugar consumption, her oral hygiene practices, and her dental treatment-related experiences. Mothers whether working or homemaker, number of siblings at home, type of family also influence the dental care toward her child suffering with ECC. Factors with economic problems in the family leads to familial stress resulting in maternal psychological distress, which is accompanied by throwing temperaments on her child and can lead to dysfunctional parenting behaviors, which is responsible for having ECC in her child.

Keywords

• early childhood caries
• maternal risk factors
• primary dentition