Prevalence of dental caries in preschool children attending nursery: The influence of socioeconomic factors

Oral health condition in samples of children from zero to six years old, examined in day nurseries for children from Bauru and S. Paulo County (Brazil) by the caries indicator in primary dentition - dmfs, is assessed. The first group did not receive oral health care where any as the second group received the standard oral care provided by the institution. Variables related to way of life and their relationship to the presence of caries were evaluated. Multiple regression analysis showed a statistically significant association of age and frequency of dental visits with the prevalence of dental caries (p<0.05). The data also showed that 23.3% of the children for Bauru, and 9.3% of those from S. Paulo were free of caries, numbers that are very far from the 50% proposed by WHO for the year 2000. The overall prevalence of dental caries was greater for the Bauru group than for the S. Paulo group; however, statistical significance was only found in the 3-4 age-group (p<0.05). Sex differences in the occurrence of dental caries were no statistically significant.