1Postgraduate Student, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai
2Associate Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai
3Professor & HOD, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Chennai
Online published on 7 December, 2018.
Deficiency in vitamin D during the development of both primary and permanent teeth leads to enamel hypoplasia, which is a significant risk factor of ECC. Enamel defects have retentive areas that lead to the bacterial plaque colonization, facilitating the progression of carious lesions.
To determine the association between the vitamin D level and the severity of Early Childhood Caries in children of age less than 72 months.
A case control study was carried in 196 children. After obtaining informed consent, oral examination was done and a questionnaire was filled from parents. Venipuncture was done for the estimation of vitamin D levels in blood.
Among the study population, children with type 2 ECC had lower level of vitamin D than the type 1 and type 3 ECC.
Within the limitation of the study, there is no significant association between the vitamin D levels and the three types of early childhood caries. However there is lower level of vitamin D level in the moderate to severe early childhood caries children.
Early childhood caries, Vitamin D, Children
