Resumo

LEMOS, Letícia Vargas Freire Martins; BARATA, Terezinha Esteves de Jesus; MYAKI, Silvio Issáo  e  WALTER, Luiz Reynaldo de Figueiredo. Dentistry for babies: caries experience vs. assiduity in clinical care. Braz. J. Oral Sci. [online]. 2012, vol.11, n.4, pp.486-491. ISSN 1677-3225.

AIM: This study analyzed and compared the experience of dental caries in 300 children aged 0 to 48 months, who were participants and non-participants of a preventive program 'Dentistry for babies', as well as the correlation between assiduity of dental visits and experience of dental caries. METHODS: The subjects were randomly selected and divided into two groups: G1 'Non participant children of the Program' (n=100) and G2 'Participant Children of the Program' (n=200). Each group was subdivided in two subgroups: 0-24 months and 25-48 months. The collected data from G2 were analyzed, relating the variation of the dmft index (dmft refers to primary teeth: d = decayed, m = missing/extracted due to caries, f = filled, t = teeth) (C) and dental caries prevalence (P) with the influence of assiduity factor in each subgroup. To collect data, clinical examinations were performed using tactile and visual criteria by a single calibrated examiner. The data were statistically analyzed using the 'paired t-test', 'Mann-Whitney' and 'Chi-Squared' tests (p<0.05). RESULTS: It was found that prevalence and dmft index were statistically significant (P=0.0001) with the greatest values observed in G1 (p=0.0001). The values were: PG1 (73%), PG2 (22%), CG1 (3.45±3.84), CG2 (0.66±1.57). Assiduity was significant in G2 (p=0.0001). The values observed were: P-Assiduous (2%), P-Non-assiduous (42%), C-Assiduous (0.04±0.31), and C-Non-assiduous (1.29±2.01). CONCLUSIONS: The participation in the program had a positive influence on the oral health of babies. Complete assiduity to the program resulted in the lowest rates and prevalence of dental caries.

Palavras-chave : pediatric dentistry; dental caries; epidemiology; referral and consultation; dental care.

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