Early Childhood Caries, Mouth Pain, and Nutritional Threats in Vietnam

We investigated the relationships among early childhood caries (ECC), mouth pain, and nutritional status in children aged 1 to 6 years in Southern and Central Vietnam. A total of 593 parent-child pairs were recruited from 5 kindergartens or preschools in Ho-Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Parents completed surveys about dietary habits, oral health practices, and children's mouth pain experience; children received anthropometric assessment and dental examinations. There was a high prevalence of dental caries (74.4%), mostly untreated, and mouth pain (47.1%). Moderate correlations were found between parents' and children's consumption of soda (ρ = 0.361; P