Caries prevalence and need of student' s treatment

AIM: Investigating dental caries prevalence and the need of student's treatment in a small municipality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A population composed by 217 students was studied, 161 (74.2%) from the urban zone and 56 (25.8%) from the rural zone, resident in Independência, Rio Grande do Sul. The indexes DMFT and dmft for dental caries were used, and the need of dentistry treatment was evaluated according to codes and criteria from Projeto SB Brasil, 2010. RESULTS: Regarding to the presence of dental caries, it was observed that 83.8% (93) of the students presented caries at 06 years old, and 94.3% (100) at 12 years old. The dmft at 6 years was 4.17 and DMFT at 12 years was 3.53. Regarding to the need of treatment, 71.8% (156) of students needed some type of attention, and the surface restoration was the most prevalent. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of dental caries was found, both at 6 and 12 years old (4.17 and 3.53) respectively, and 71.8% needed some type of treatment. The most prevalent treatments were dental surface restoration, dental extraction and sealing pits and fissures.

Multicentric caries prevention program: Mechanical control of dental plaque through periodic professional oral prophylaxis. A 10 years follow up

AIM: To verify the incidence of dental caries in a multicentric prevention program applied in pediatric dentistry clinics from different regions of Brazil for 10 years, and compare with results obtained by previous studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 697 children of both genders, ranging from 30 months to 15 years, were included in a primary preventive strategy program for mechanical control of dental plaque through professional prophylaxis (sodium bicarbonate jet on a monthly schedule). Diagnosis of carious lesions was assessed by monthly clinical examinations and annual radiographs. This procedure aimed to provide a biological equilibrium without producing undesirable side effects. RESULTS: The average age of children at beginning of the program was 81.71 months. Before entering the program the children presented an average of 2.66 lesions/surface, while during the program the average was 0.20 lesions/surface; the incidence rate of caries per year before starting the program was on average 0.62 lesions/surface while during the program it was 0.05 lesions/surface; the time of permanence in the program was on average 44.15 months and the absence rate was 0.14 per year. CONCLUSION: The results confirm the effectiveness of the program, even when applied by different professionals and in different groups of children, turning it into an indispensible method for the control of dental caries.

Estudo in situ do efeito remineralizador da saliva e do flúor após profilaxia com jato de bicarbonato de sódio sobre o esmalte hígido / In situ study of the saliva and fluoride recovery effect on enamel after sodium bicarbonate jet application

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar in situ o efeito da saliva, associada ou não ao flúor, sobre a estrutura dentária do esmalte que recebeu profilaxia prévia com jato de bicarbonato de sódio. Foram utilizados 40 blocos de esmalte de dente bovino de 4x4 mm, nos quais foi aplicado o jato de bicarbonato de sódio por 10s, simulando a realização de uma profilaxia profissional. Após essa etapa, os blocos foram divididos em dois grupos (GI e GII) e montados em dispositivos intra-bucais, os quais foram utilizados por 10 voluntários, durante dois períodos experimentais cruzados e cegos de quatro horas. Os blocos do GI foram expostos diretamente à saliva in situ, enquanto os do GII, foram expostos à saliva associada ao flúor sob forma de bochecho com solução de NaF a 0,2%, durante o minuto inicial. As possíveis alterações ocorridas na superfície do esmalte após as etapas do experimento foram avaliadas através de testes de microdureza superficial (Knoop-25g/5s) e de desgaste. Os dados de microdureza superficial foram analisados pela Análise de Variância a dois Critérios (ANOVA) e teste de Tukey (p < 0,05) e os dados de desgaste pelo teste T pareado, para a diferença entre perfil inicial e final (p < 0,05). Não foi encontrada diferença estatisticamente significante entre GI e GII, para as variáveis dureza e desgaste. A média de desgaste após profilaxia não apresentou diferença da média após a etapa in situ. No entanto, a média de microdureza no início, após a profilaxia e após a etapa in situ foi respectivamente: GI (340±16,6a; 329±35,7b; 354±37,8a) e GII (338±15,6a; 312 ±46,3b; 340±21,8a). Com base nos resultados encontrados pôde-se concluir que a saliva apresentou efeito semelhante a saliva associada ao bochecho fluoretado e após 4 horas de remineralização in situ não houve recuperação em altura de parte da estrutura dentária perdida devido à aplicação do jato de bicarbonato de sódio sobre o esmalte hígido.