Caries
Eugenia D'A Henriquez-D'Aquino, DDS, MS
Pediatric Dentist, Associate Professor of the Children's Department, University of Chile
University of Chile
Universit of Chile
Santiago, Chile, Region Metropolitana, Chile
Pamela Muñoz-Cortes, DDS
Uniiversity of Chile
Camila Martinez-Contreras, Professional
Private pratice
Eugenia D'A Henriquez-D'Aquino, DDS, MS
Pediatric Dentist, Associate Professor of the Children's Department, University of Chile
University of Chile
Universit of Chile
Santiago, Chile, Region Metropolitana, Chile
Methodology: Pubmed, Scielo and Scopus databases were used for selection articles. The search strategy was based on the use of the following key terms: early childhood caries, preschool children, cariogenic diet, dietary sugars, cariogenic agents, dietary sucrose sugar intake. Full texts in english from the last five years were included. Two hundred and forty eight articles were identified, of which seventeen were selected for analysis.
Introduction: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a highly prevalent pathology in the world. Its etiology is multifactorial and a determining factor in its development is the composition of the diet. Although the relationship between caries and sugar consumption is well known, studies in the preschool population are scarce. The aim of this review was to establish the existing evidence in the literature about sugar introduction in the diet of children with ECC.
Results: Four factors related to the sugar introduction in the diet of children with ECC were found: early introduction before twelve months of age, intake of free sugars higher than recommended by the WHO, consumption of processed foods more than four times per day and the greatest occasion of consumption was between meals. In addition, it was found that among the first sugary foods consumed by children is tea with sugar and later cookies and drinks.
Conclusions: The evidence shows that the early introduction and high consumption of free sugars in the diet are factors associated with the early introduction of sugar in children with early childhood caries.