Experience of Dental Caries and Use of Continuous Medication in Children with Neuropsychomotor Disorders

ABSTRACT

Objective: To identify the relation between the use of continuous medication by children with neuropsychomotor disorders and the development of the dental caries disease. Material and Methods: The data were obtained from medical and dental records of children, who were assisted in an extension project of the Dentistry School of the Federal University of Pelotas. Socio-economic variables, the disability diagnosis, the type and frequency of the continuous medication, and the dental caries experience registered in the dental record were collected. The data were evaluated by double typing, analyzed by descriptive statistics, and the associations were tested by the Qui-squared, Fisher exact, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The Stata Statistical Software, version 12.0, was utilized considering the level of significance of 5%. Results: 119 records were evaluated, and the results were distributed by age bracket due to the high age range. Undoubtedly, the cerebral palsy was the most prevalent (33.9%). From the total of the children, 68.8% were using continuous medication, and the majority (56%) uses medication there are more than 24 months. The anticonvulsants were the most used medications (33.8%), and 96.5% of the children used medication during the nocturnal period. Half of the utilized medications presented sucrose in its composition. Conclusion: A statistically significant association between the use of continuous medication, containing sucrose, and the dental caries experience were not observed, what suggests that other risk factors contribute to the disease installation.