AbstractBackground: Dental caries (

Abstract
Background: Dental caries (decay) is an international public health challenge, especially amongst young children.
Early Childhood Caries is a rapidly progressing disease leading to severe pain, anxiety, sepsis and sleep loss, and is
a major health problem particularly for disadvantaged populations. There is currently a lack of research exploring
the interactions between risk and protective factors in the development of early childhood caries, in particular the
effects of infant feeding practises.