Along with pain, consider the following negative health effects
of Early Childhood Caries (ECC): ECC can also impact a child's
education. According to a 1992 study by Helen Gift, et al,
approximately 51 million school hours per year are missed due to
dental problems, most of which result from caries. More school
is missed by poor, Hispanic females without dental insurance
than any other children. Missed school for children also
translates into missed work and lost wages for caregivers. The
financial burden of repairing severe ECC is enormous. ECC
results in increased office, dental, and ER visits, with such
costs often far exceeding those of preventive dental care.
Several studies have investigated the cost of prevention versus
treatment of disease and confirm that it is significantly more
expensive to treat caries than to prevent them. It is
approximately 10 times more expensive to provide inpatient care
for dental caries-related symptoms than to provide that same
patient with the recommended periodic preven