Caries and its risk factors in young children in five different countries.

The state of oral health plays an essential role in human comprehensive health. Nevertheless, although considerable improvement in oral health caries has been noted in both developed and newly developing countries, caries is still widespread among children. Although it can be monitored, caries cannot be properly eliminated. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This investigation, performed in cooperation with Jena Hospital in Germany, was conducted in five countries from 2002-2008. The cities Riga (Latvia), Ouro Preto (Brazil), Erfurt (Germany), Volgograd (Russia) and Minsk (Belorus) were engaged in this investigation. Children at the age of 26-34 months were surveyed. Consistent with the research design, the mothers filled out questionnaires about the children's health, and an examination of the children's oral health was performed. The statistics program SPSS 15.0 was used to analyze the obtained data, and the correlations between changing findings were expressed by the Spearmen rank correlation coefficient (r). RESULTS. In this study, 472 children were observed: 179 from Riga, 152 from Erfurt, 62 from Ouru Preto, 116 from Minsk and 84 from Volgograd. A direct correlation existed between the country and plaque (r=0.16) and caries (dmft) (r=-0.11). The direct correlation between dmft and Streptococcus mutans (r=-0.36) was characteristic of children from Erfurt. The lowest dmft index (0.62) was present in children from Erfurt, and the highest (1.57) in children from Ouro Preto. CONCLUSIONS. The frequency and prevalence of caries in young children in Riga is high; it was the lowest in Erfurt and the highest - in Brazil. Plaque and dt were one of the indices with a direct relationship in Riga, Brazil and Minsk. Poor oral hygiene, irregular tooth brushing and the consumption of cariogenic foods and drinks are the most important caries risk factors among children at the age of 2-3 years. The mother's knowledge and attitude affect the child's oral health.

Fatores de risco da doença cárie de acometimento precoce / Risk factors of early childhood caries

Neste artigo os autores fazem uma revisão da literatura sobre cárie de acometimento precoce em crianças (ECC) e sugerem que essa modalidade de acometimento de doença cárie, se tornou um problema de saúde pública, devido sua alta prevalência e rápida progressão, podendo levar a destruição dos elementos dentários. Os autores discutem os critérios de diagnóstico da cárie de acometimento precoce, revelando suas causas e determinantes de risco sociais e econômicos como fatores de risco da doença. A doença cárie de acometimento precoce é um problema crescente em muitos países e a complexidade de seus determinantes e fatores de risco, faz com que a evidencia científica no que tange modelos explicativos confiáveis ainda é insuficiente, necessitando de mais pesquisas para esclarecer seu mecanismo e prevenir sua ocorrência.