Rural populations and dental caries: a systematic review

Abstract

This study was a systematic review on dental caries in Brazi- lian rural populations. A research on Medline, Lilacs and BBO base data have identified only 10 arti- eles. Artieles published in 1990's were the only ones which did not have methodological problems. Dental caries needs of rural popu- lations were of concern. There was a signficant decrease in caries se- verity for children aging 6-12 years in Brazilian rural population, from 1968to 1997.Taking in account the lack of information the methodolo- gical problems of Brazilian rural population epidemiological resear- chs, it's necessary the development of dental caries researches among rural populations in order to imple- ment public health policies. Key words: dental caries, epide- miology,rural, DMFT,DMFS.