DESCRIPTION AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF NURSING CARIES

Nursing caries is a virulent form of tooth decay that affects the prim ary dentition of infants and preschool children. The purpose of this p aper is to review the scientific literature to describe the clinical c haracteristics of this disease and to report on its prevalence in vari ous locations and populations around the world. A Medline search was c ompleted using the key words below. All English-language articles that reported on the prevalence of caries involving the primary maxillary incisors in preschool children in association with feeding habits were included in the review. Nursing caries is associated with ad libitum bottle feeding, particularly at naptime or nighttime, and has been rep orted in children who engage in demand breastfeeding. A substantial bo dy of literature from numerous countries now exists that documents the prevalence of nursing caries. In developed countries the prevalence i s reported to vary between 1 percent and 12 percent However, in develo ping countries and within disadvantaged populations in developed count ries, the prevalence has been reported to be as high as 70 percent in the preschool population. A universally accepted definition for nursin g caries does not exist and methods used to define the condition, esta blish study populations, and collect prevalence data vary widely among studies. This review provides a detailed clinical description of nurs ing caries, reviews the characteristics of children who may be at risk for nursing caries, and reviews the prevalence data for nursing carie s for countries that have reported it, and suggests directions for res earch into nursing caries etiology and prevalence.