The aim of this study was to analyze the psychosocial effects of severe caries in 4-year-old children in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The clinical examination was conducted by a single examiner in order to select children with severe caries and caries-free (kappa = 1). Of the 861 children examined, 77 (8.1%) had severe caries and 225 (23.6%) were caries-free. Data were collected by applying validated questionnaires answered by the parents or guardians. Most of the parents or guardians of children with severe caries reported that their children complained of toothache (72.7%), and a significant portion stated that their children had problems eating certain kinds of food (49.4%) and missed school (26.0%) because of their teeth. Most of the parents or guardians of children with severe caries (68.8%) stated that oral health affects their children's life, while the same was stated by 9.8% of the parents or guardians of the caries-free children. Severe caries was found to have a negative impact on children's oral health-related quality of life.

The aim of this study was to determine caries prevalence in 4-year-old preschoolers of both sexes in municipal schools in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, in 2002, emphasizing their needs assessment. Data were collected by examining 861 preschoolers from 45 municipal schools. Examination was conducted by one examiner (Kappa = 1) in the school and after parental consent forms were obtained. Dental caries was recorded using the dmf-t (decayed, missing, and filled teeth) index. Data analysis showed caries prevalence of 47.00% and dmf-t of 2.06. Only 6.40% of the children had their teeth treated. The examined children showed high dental caries prevalence (47.00%), despite a low prevalence of severe caries (8.94%).

RESUMO.O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de avaliar o desempenho na escola de crianças de quatro anos de idade portadoras de cárie severa. Foram examinadas 101 pré-escolares pertencentes a 4 escolas municipais da cidade do Recife, estado de Pernambuco, Brasil, no ano de 2002. Os exames clínicos foram realizados por 3 pesquisadoras (Kappa interexaminador = 0,89 e intra-examinador = 0,91), com o objetivo de selecionar crianças livres de cárie (grupo A) e portadoras de cárie severa (grupo B), compondo a amostra final de 41 crianças selecionadas A avaliação do desempenho das crianças na escola foi obtida por meio da aplicação de um questionário com as professoras. Verificou-se que o grupo dos alunos livres de cárie apresentou-se, em geral, mais atento às explicações das professoras em sala de aula e com menor dificuldade na realização das tarefas escolares, bem como não apresentaram faltas à escola por motivos relacionados aos dentes, o que não ocorreu com os alunos do grupo B. Quanto à participação oral em sala de aula e a pronúncia das palavras, não se observaram diferenças significativas entre os dois grupos, de acordo com as informações fornecidas pelas professoras. No grupo A, não foi relatado apelido constrangedor relacionado aos dentes, fato que foi verificado em 11% das crianças do grupo B. As professoras consideraram que 22% das crianças portadoras de cárie severa apresentavam prejuízos em suas atividades escolares devido às condições de sua saúde bucal. Concluiu-se que o desempenho das crianças portadoras de cárie severa na escola pode ser prejudicado por sua saúde bucal. Outras pesquisas devem ser desenvolvidas para melhor avaliar o impacto da cárie severa no desempenho da criança na escola.Palavras-chave: cárie dental, criança, saúde bucal.ABSTRACT. School performance of pre-school children with severe caries. The study evaluated and compared school performance of caries-free and severe caries of 4-yearold children by their teachers' perception. The selected group consisted of 101 preschoolers from 4 randomly chosen municipal schools in the city of Recife, state of Pernambuco, Brazil, in 2002. All the study data was collected by 3 examiners by applying validated questionnaires to the teachers. Forty-one children were selected from the initial sample of 101. Thirty-two were caries-free and 9 had severe caries (31.7% and 8.9%, respectively). The caries-free group presented more attention to teachers' explanation and less difficulty in school tasks than the severe caries group. They also did not have absences in school caused by their teeth, but this happened with children from group B. The teachers did not observe differences between the 2 groups in oral school participation and word pronunciation. Neither of children from caries-free group received constrained nickname related to their teeth, although 11% from severe caries group have received it. The teachers considered that 22% from severe caries group presented damage in their school performance caused by their teeth. Severe caries group school performan...