Perfil epidemiológico da cárie dentária e fatores associados em pré-escolares do município de Campina Grande-PB

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and activity of dental caries and associated factors in children aged three to five years in the city of Campina Grande, Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 553 children enrolled in public and private schools/daycare centers in the city of Campina Grande, Brazil. Data acquisition was performed from October to December 2011 by three calibrated examiners (inter-examiner kappa index: 0.830.91; intra-examiner kappa index: 0.84-0.91) through a clinical oral exam and anthropometric measures (BMI) of the children and the administration of a questionnaire to parents/guardians. The ICDAS-II index was used for the diagnosis of caries and disease activity. The data were processed using the SPSS and STATA programs and statistical analysis involved frequency distribution, bivariate and multivariate analysis, with a 5% significance level. Results: The prevalence of dental caries was 64.8%. Carious lesions were more commonly found on the lower molars (37.6%) and the occlusal surface (32.7%), the most frequent of which were types 5 and 6 (38.2% and 36.6%, respectively). The multivariate analysis revealed that dental caries were more prevalent among the female gender (p=0.019), children at four years of age (p=0.004), those from families with a monthly income less than the minimum salary (p=0.022), those enrolled in public schools (p=0.001) and those who did not make use of bottle feeding (p=0.018). The prevalence of active carious lesions was 84.9%; after the logistic regression, this condition was associated with visiting the dentist in the previous six months (p=0.005) and the absence of bottle feeding (p=0.007). Conclusion: The prevalence of caries and caries activity was high. Gender, age, monthly income, type of school and the non-use of bottle feeding were associated with dental caries, whereas visiting the dentist and the non-use of bottle feeding were associated with caries activity. The findings underscore the importance of educational-preventive programs that emphasize oral healthcare in the pediatric population.