Factors predisposing to early childhood caries (ECC) in children of pre-school age in the city of Zagreb, Croatia

The aim of this study was to investigate factors predisposing to early chil dhood caries (ECC) in pre-school children in the city of Zagreb, Croatia. T he investigation was carried out on the sample of 145 children (77 boys and 68 girls) aged between 2 and 5 years, including clinical examination of de ntal status and survey on the habits among the parents. The overall prevale nce of ECC was 30%: in girls it was 25%, and in boys 48%. The study on the risk factors was designed as a classic case-control study. The mean value o f dmfs index: among the cases amounted to 8.6 in comparison to 5.2 in the c ontrol group (p <0.05): Bottle-feeding did not represent a significant risk , but night consumption of sweet beverages after first 24 months and the la ck of introduction of teeth-brushing habit after first 24 months did (p < 0 .001 for both predictors). The study revealed the importance of early intro duction of teeth-brushing and giving up the nightly consumption of sweet be verages in prevention of ECC.