About this Research Topic

Background

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a non-communicable disease of public health, affecting more than 530 million children globally. It is also a disease of inequality with heavier burdens in lower-income countries and children with lower socioeconomic status. The drivers of inequality are structural. Most proposals and interventions for the control of ECC have been largely limited to individual and family interventions. Implementation research to describe how community actions can reduce the risk for ECC are very few. Ecological studies suggest that that macro-level factors also have an impact on the risk of ECC. In effect, governments of nations and global actors need to do more to reduce ECC risk. They can do more if we continue to show evidence on ‘why’ and ‘how.’ Hopefully, these strategic approaches to generate evidence to drive a collective global response for ECC can help us reach a point in history where we can start to think of eliminating ECC. ECC's significant impact on the growth and development of children and the quality of life and well-being of affected children and their caregivers makes the elimination of ECC a worthy target to pursue.

This Research Topic shall welcome research articles that generate and highlight country-level information on ECC. This includes manuscripts that report updated information on epidemiological profiles of ECC for specific countries, communities, or populations; the impact of COVID-19 on the risk for and management of ECC; assessment of the impact on national policies and programs on ECC control; effectiveness of clinical programs for ECC control; systematic review and meta-analysis of data on ECC; best practices and lessons learned for ECC management and scale-up during a health crisis.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following.
● Systematic review and meta-analysis of ECC risk factors, prevention, and management.
● Epidemiological profiles of ECC for countries with little or no public data.
● Impact of COVID-19 on the epidemiology and management of ECC.
● Sustainable development goals and ending ECC as a public health crisis.
● ECC and its impact on growth, development, social, mental health, and well-being.
● Possible interventions unitizing common risk factors for ECC and general health.
● Evidence of effectiveness of clinical and community-based multi-disciplinary approaches to ECC control.
● Conceptual frameworks on pathways linking ECC with adolescent health and well-being.

Keywords: early childhood caries, prevalence, prevention, treatment, epidemiology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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