CARIE DA PRIMEIRA INFÂNCIA: Uma revisão da literatura

Early childhood caries (ECC) is defined as the presence of caries in one or more primary teeth, filled or lost due to caries, before 71 months of age. ECC is a significant oral health problem, as it can impact child development, affecting functions such as chewing, phonation and breathing. Dental caries is the most common chronic disease during childhood, which makes it a major challenge for global public health. Despite being so prevalent, dental caries is, in many cases, preventable. A narrative review of the literature on early childhood caries (ECC) was carried out. This work aims to present early childhood caries (ECC) and can serve as an informational source for both dental students and professionals already graduated. Scientific articles related to the proposed theme, available in the online databases BVSalud, PUBMed, Lilacs, Scielo and Google Scholar, presented in Portuguese and/or English and published between 2023 and 2024, were used to compose the bibliographic basis of this work. After analyzing all the material used as a bibliographic basis to develop this work, it is concluded that ECC is a serious problem that needs to be firmly combated since it affects the function, aesthetics and social interactions of childrens.