Resumo

AMARAL, Regiane Cristina do; BATISTA, Marília Jesus; CYPRIANO, Silvia  e  SOUSA, Maria da Luz Rosário de. Dental care and associated factors in school children of Indaiatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2013, vol.49, n.1, pp. 39-44. ISSN 1516-0939.

Aim: To verify dental care and analyze associated factors in 12-year-old school children in Indaiatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. In 2010, 151 students from public and private schools were selected by systematic probabilistic sampling, according to the WHO criteria. Materials and Methods: The sample was examined by a team of four dentists who were trained and calibrated to achieve acceptable levels of agreement for data collection (95% or more regarding the experience of caries). The dental care index was calculated as the rate F/DMF multiplied by 100. The last quartile (75%) was the dependent variable: a value of ≥ 0.91 (91%) for the group with highest rate of dental care. A descriptive analysis of the independent variables and bivariate analysis was performed and included in the model variables with p ≤ 0.25 for Poisson regression analysis. Results: Among the 151 children examined, 52.3 (n=79) were cariesfree, with a dmft of 1.56 (±2,1). In the city, the mean dental care index was 47.3%. The reason for seeking the dentist (PR=2.32; 95% CI: 1.29 to 4.19.), type of dental service (RP=2.37; 95% CI: 1.11 to 5.48), and family income (PR=2.68; 95% CI: 2.10 -7.66) were the variables that proved to be significantly associated with the dental care index. Conclusion: Dental care represents nearly half of the caries experiences. This factor has been associated with family income, type of dental service, and reason to search for a dentist.

Palavras-chave : Dental care for children.; Oral health.; Epidemiology..