A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH TO THE CLİNİCAL MANAGEMENT AND REHABİLİTATİON OF SEVERE EARLY CHİLDHOOD CARİES

Prof. Dr. Senem Kuvvetli

Head of Department of Pediatric Dentistry

Faculty of Dentistry

Yeditepe University

Turkiye

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a common, chronic, infectious disease that affects primary teeth in children younger than six years of age, caused by cariogenic bacteria in the oral cavity. Children with this disease experience pain, loss of space in the jaws and dental arches, deterioration in growth and development and quality of life, and an increased risk of new caries lesions in permanent dentition when these caries lesions are left untreated. In severe ECC cases, these caries lesions may cause extensive destruction of dental hard tissues, and pulp-related acute and chronic infections may eventually occur. Minimally invasive approaches with the use of biomimetic dental materials, Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), Interim Therapeutic Restorations (ITR), vital and nonvital pulp treatments, restorations using up-to-date restorative materials and full coronal restorations (prefabricated stainless steel and zirconia crowns) are used in the treatment of these cases. Fixed and removable space maintainer applications follow the extraction of untreatable primary teeth. Regularly monitoring these cases in the high caries risk group ensures prevention and minimization of the problems that may arise from dental caries in advanced ages and in the transition to permanent dentition. This presentation will explain these current treatment modalities, the resulting oral rehabilitation, and case stories supported by the current dental literature and long-term follow-up outcomes.