ECC: Consequences
ECC is the most common chronic childhood disease and has many potentially severe consequences, including:
- Pain
- Impaired chewing and nutrition
- Infection
- Increased caries in permanent dentition
- School/work absences
- Students with dental pain are 3 times more likely to have poorer school performance
- Difficulty sleeping
- Poor self-esteem
- Extensive and expensive dental work which often must be completed under general anesthesia
Severe maxillary incisor caries with central abscesses
Donald Greiner, DDS, MS
All four maxillary incisors extracted due to severe caries
Joanna Douglass, BDS, DDS
 Molars restored with stainless steel crowns
Joanna Douglass, BDS, DDS
References
The Catalyst Institute. The Oral Health of Massachusetts' Children. January 2008. Accessed April 16, 2010
Jackson SL et al. Impact of Poor Oral Health on Children's School Attendance and Performance. Am J Public Health. 2011 ;101(10):1900-6.
Seirawan H, Faust S, Mulligan R. The impact of oral health on the academic performance of disadvantaged children. Am J Public Health. 2012 102(9):1729-34.
Martins-Júnior PA, Vieira-Andrade RG, Corrêa-Faria P et al. Impact of early childhood caries on the oral health-related quality of life of preschool children and their parents. Caries Res. 2013;47(3):211-8.