Dental health in preschool children and schoolchildren from Campos dos Goytacazes /RJ / Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify dental caries experience in schoolchildren aging six to twelve years, in public schools in Campos dos Goytacazes/ RJ, in 2002, in order to plan oral health actions and monitor the future trends of this disease in the municipality. The sample was taken by means of two stages: randomly (sorting out schools) and, later, 528 stu- dents, who were present at the day of examination and possessed authorization, were examined. The clinical examinations were carried out according to the World Health Organization criteria (WHO, 1997), by five examiners, previously calibrated, making use of dmft and DMFT indexes for dental caries. At six years of age, the dmft index was 3.2, while 28.0% showed no caries. At twelve years of age, the DMFT was of 3.1, while 23.1% showed no caries. The higher percentage of the DMFT index in schoolchildren was that of the filled component (53.11%) and the higher percentage of the dmft index in preschool children was that of the decayed compo- nent (72.22%), followed by filled component (25.76%). The munici- pality has not achieved the WHO goal for 2000, however, with more investments in material and hu- man resources, including the be- ginning and maintenance of water supply fluoridation, it is intended that some of WHO goals for 2010 (at five years of age, 90%children having no caries and at twelve years, DMFT lower than 1.0) be achieved. Key words: dental caries, epide- miology, oral health.