Effectiveness of Severe Early Childhood Caries ECC on Behavior of Pre-school Children and their Relationships

Abstract

Background: Early childhood caries manifests mainly with caries affecting the primary upper anterior teeth, and the destruction of the upper anterior teeth has a great impact on the child in terms of speech, aesthetic and psychological aspects. From this point of view, this exploratory study was conducted on the opinion of kindergarten supervisors on the behavioral impact of these caries.

Materials and methods: A questionnaire was filled out about the impact of severely carried upper anterior primary teeth on the child's psyche and behavior, by 312 supervisors in kindergartens in Damascus and its countryside, 286 of them answered yes about their dealing with children who suffered from this problem. Descriptive statistics and data analysis were performed at 95% confidence interval using chi-square test with Fisher's correction.

Results: The research included 286 questionnaires about the opinion of kindergarten supervisors on the relationship between severe caries and children behavior, and it was noticed that 69.4% of these children refrained from laughing and smiling because of their unattractive appearance, 62.9% did a certain behavior to hide their teeth while speaking, and 31.8% did a shy behavior and refrain from playing. While only 4.9% noticed a hostile behavior in the child with severe caries. The age group above 3 years was the most affected.

Conclusion: The early demolition of the anterior primary teeth has a clear impact on the child's behavior and his relationship with others, so caries should be treated early.