PREVALENCE OF DENTAL CARIES AND FLUOROSIS IN CHILDREN TREATED AT A DENTAL SCHOOL CLINIC IN THE NORTH OF MINAS GERAIS: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of dental caries and fluorosis in children attended at the School Clinic of Faculdade Funorte de Janaúba-MG and to verify the influence of socioeconomic variables. This is a cross-sectional descriptive observational study carried out with children attended at the Funorte School Clinic between January 2021 and December 2022. The convenience sample of the pilot study was composed of patients selected from the disciplines of Pediatric Dentistry I and II and Integrated Clinic of Childhood and Adolescence. Clinical examinations were carried out on the children and a socioeconomic questionnaire was applied to the guardians. The DMFT index was used for the evaluation of dental caries, and for fluorosis the Dean index. Data were analyzed descriptively using SPSS software, version 26.0 (p< 0.05). The sample consisted of 9 participants invited to the study. The mean age was 11.0 ± 1.50 years. The prevalence of caries was 88.88%, with a mean DMFT index of 3.67 ± 2.34. The prevalence of fluorosis was 44.44%, with a Community Fluorosis index of 1.16, with grades ranging from very mild to moderate. Children from families with lower income had a higher prevalence of caries. A high prevalence of dental caries and fluorosis was evidenced in children attended at the School Clinic of Faculdade Funorte de Janaúba-MG, associated with socioeconomic factors.