Awareness among general practitioners about early childhood caries

Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a particular virulent form of dental caries affecting the primary teeth of children which in turn affects the general health of the children. Hence the study was intended ta evaluate and compare the amount of awareness regarding ECC among dental (BDS) and medical (MBBS) general practitioners.The study was carried out using self administered questionnaire distributed to 50 Medical general practitioners and 50 Dental general practitioners, selected by randomized sampling method front the region of Hubli - Dharwad city.The result showed that 58% of Dental general practitioners had adequate knowledge about ECC while only 2% of Medical practitioners were aware about ECC. There was no statistical signifiant difference ln the awareness among male and female general practitioners (male - 29.17%, female - 26.92%) whereas 80% of general practitioners in the age group of 41–50 years had adequate awareness about ECC as compared to general practitioners in the age group of 31-40 yrs (22.41%) and 21–30 yrs (11.11%).