Dental caries in children that participated in a dental program providing mother and child care

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of caries in children that participate in a dental program attending mothers and children in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil. A selection was made of 343 children of both genders, from 3 to 6 years of age. The mothers answered questionnaires and children were examined at the Infant Dental Clinic of the Federal University of Piauí. The epidemiological index dmft was applied and active white spot lesions were included. The SPSS for Windows program, version 11.1 was used and non-parametric tests carried out (Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis). An alpha error of 5% (0.05) was considered for the null hypothesis of false rejection, with a confidence interval of 95%. The results showed that 57.5% (197) of the children were breast-fed for a period longer than 12 months. The mean dmft index and percentages of caries-free children at the age of 3 was 1.86 (58.82%); at 4 years of age 1.94 (57.60%); at 5 years of age 1.98 (56.86%) and at 6 years of age 2.42 (42.55%). The decay component (d) was prevalent at all ages. When active white spot lesions were added to the dmft index, there was an increase of 7.2% for children who had caries activity and/or previous caries experience and 2.61% for those with dmft equal to zero. The daily consumption of fermentable carbohydrates and free demand breast-feeding were factors increasing caries activity. Dental follow-up after the program and the number of daily brushings were shown to be factors providing protection against caries . Based on the results, the authors were able to conclude that the program caused a positive impact on caries disease control, as the number of dental appointments kept influenced the dmft index values in a statistically significant manner.

Condições de saúde bucal de crianças na faixa etária pré-escolar, residentes em áreas de abrangência do Programa Saúde da Família em Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

“…A 6 (56,9%) no Estado do Piauí. O percentual de dentes cariados entre aqueles atacados pela cárie do índice ceo-d na população do presente estudo (85,8%) foi igualmente inferior ao índice encontrado no Nordeste (91,3%).…”

“…3 Sabe-se que o comportamento da cárie na população pré-escolar varia de acordo com fatores relacionados ao estilo de vida, realidade socioeconômica e demográfica e acesso aos serviços de saúde. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Sendo assim, algumas iniciativas vem sendo desenvolvidas nos serviços de atenção básica à saúde, visando identificar e assistir grupos populacionais ou famílias com situações especiais de vulnerabilidade para o desenvolvimento de problemas de saúde bucal. 4,5,12,13 Na cidade de Salvador, poucos são os levantamentos de saúde bucal realizados.…”

Therapeutic potential of Brazilian fluoride varnishes: an in vivo study

“…Dental caries is a multifactorial disease defined as a result of loss of mineral leading to dissolution of dental hard tissues by substantial pH fluctuations within the biofilm on the tooth surface (1)(2)(3).…”

Risk factors associated with early childhood caries – a case control study

“…To determine the groups, all records of a maternal and child care program [11] were inspected to select all patients diagnosed with ECC according to the criteria of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry [1].…”

“…The program's activities are developed at the Institute of Social Perinatology, Piauí (ISPP) by students of the undergraduate dental course at UFPI under the supervision and guidance of professors [11].…”