{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T06:55:52Z","timestamp":1792479352021,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]],"date-time":"2023-06-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1687910400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Dental caries in the preschool population presents a significant challenge in the field of global public health, including Ecuador. Early detection of this disease is crucial for developing effective strategies for prevention and promotion of oral health, which can have a substantial impact on the quality of life of preschool-aged children. This study evaluated 600 children aged 3 to 5 years attending preschool education centers using the ICDAS II diagnostic criteria. The Student\u2019s t-test was used to analyze differences between the means of two independent groups. Additionally, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to assess differences between the means of three or more groups. The prevalence of caries was 87%, with a dft index of 3.85 in the three provinces studied. A high treatment need was observed in 84.17% of the population. No significant differences in the DFT index were found based on gender, although both groups exhibited elevated values. No significant differences were observed in relation to province and environment. The second molar was the most affected tooth, with a caries prevalence of 58.8%. Despite the lack of significant differences among the evaluated variables, a high prevalence and experience of dental caries were found in the studied population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children10071123","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,29]],"date-time":"2023-06-29T00:41:45Z","timestamp":1687999305000},"page":"1123","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Caries Experience in Preschoolers in Three Ecuadorian Communities"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7002-9990","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eleonor Mar\u00eda","family":"V\u00e9lez Le\u00f3n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain"},{"name":"School of Dentistry, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6857-7629","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alberto","family":"Albaladejo Mart\u00ednez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-1320-5582","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u00f3nica Alejandra","family":"Preciado Sarmiento","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Public Health, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1374-612X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda Augusta","family":"Cordero L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3800-8166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana del Carmen","family":"Armas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Hemisferios University, Quito 170527, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liliana Soledad","family":"Encalada Verdugo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Catholic University of Cuenca, Cuenca 010107, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1120-3308","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda","family":"Melo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2017.00157","article-title":"Early Childhood Caries: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Prevention","volume":"5","author":"Anil","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. 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