Prevalence of dental caries and dental fluorosis in five and six-year-old preschoolchildren, Leme, São Paulo, 1998

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the oral health status of preschool children aging from 5-6 years old, in Leme, SP, Brazil, in 1998. Dental caries, treatment needs and dental fluorosis were the parameters of oral health status evaluated in deciduous teeth. The clinical exams followed the WHO criteria for epidemiological studies and 199 children aged 5-6 years old were selected randomly from public and private preschools for examination. At 5 years old, 36.4% of the children were found to be caries free and DMFT was 2.4. Considering children from both ages (5 and 6 years old), 41.5% were found to be caries free. The polarization group, with presented DMFT equal or higher than 4, was composed by 27.6% of children and DMFT in this group was 6.8. A very mild form of dental fluorosis was found in 2.55% of children and the CFI was 0.1, not representing a problem of public health to this population. It suggested the need for improvement of the oral heal- th program that is offered to this population, with special attention to children who have high risk to develop caries, including more efficacious preventive and edu- cative actions in order to provide conditions to the development of a healthy permanent dentition. Key words: epidemiology, dental caries, dental fluorosis.