Dental Caries, enamel defects and treatment needs in children from Araras, SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence of dental caries and enamel defects, such as hypoplasia, demarcated opacity and fl uorosis, as well as to report the treatment needs in 5-year-old pre-schoolchildren and 12-year-old schoolchildren, from Araras, São Paulo State, Brazil, in 2004. The probabilistic sample consisted of 382 5-year-old pre-schoolchildren (n=186) and 12-year-old schoolchildren (n=196). The epidemiologicalexaminations were performed by four calibrated examiners, under natural light, using mirrors and “ball point” probes, following the WHO recommendations. Dental caries was recorded using dmft and DMFT indexes. Fluorosis was recorded following the Dean index in 12-yearolds. The results showed that the dmft index in 5 year-olds was 1.74 (dp=3.04) and that the DMFT in 12-year-olds was 1.58 (dp=2.39). Among the 5- and 12-year-old children, 52.2% and 42.3% were caries free, respectively. Approximately one third of examined children presented signs of caries activity. The one surface fi lling was the most required treatment in both pre-schoolchildren (42.1%) and schoolchildren (39.0%). The demarcated enamel opacity was detected in 65.4% of pre-schoolchildren and 14.4% of schoolchildren and the hypoplasia in 5.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Regarding fl uorosis, 18% of 12-year-olds presented enamel disturb. The results indicate that the pre-schoolchildren and schoolchildren examined presented treatment needs of low complexity, since the proportion of caries free was high and the disease activity was low.