Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai has set up a Centre for Early Childhood Caries Research as a follow up of a grant of Rs 1 crore from UK based Wellcome Trust and Department of Biotechnology – India Alliance. 

Sri Ramachandra Institute press release said that this is the first of such grants to an Indian dental institution which has been given as a follow up of a successful research work by Dr Krithiga, his supervisor and mentor Dr MS Muthu, HOD, Pediatric Dentistry to investigate a completely novel area of how two teeth meet with each other and whether the variations in this meeting point could be a risk factor for early childhood tooth decay in some children as compared to others. 

This will pave way for further high quality focused research in the area of early childhood tooth decay, according to Dr Muthu. Early tooth decay in childhood is a global public health problem. Studies in India show that almost every alternate child under the age of six has some form of tooth decay. The disease has devastating consequences, making daily routine difficult for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. The children's dentistry department of Sri Ramachandra Dental Hospital has pioneered research work in the field of early childhood tooth decay since 2012.