Risk factors for incipient dental caries lesions in children
Keywords:
white spot, incipient lesion, dental caries, risk factors.Abstract
Introduction: caries lesions can be arrested at any stage of development, with best results when it is an incipient lesion or a white spot; to achieve it, it is necessary to know the factors and conditions for the development of this disease.
Objectives: to determine the frequency of incipient dental caries lesions and its relation with risk factors of caries in schoolchildren from 6 to 11 years of age.
Methods: an observational descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The universe was composed of all children enrolled in "José A. Echeverría" Primary School, "Plaza de la Revolución" Municipality during the period January-December 2006, for a total of 236 children, who were examined in the open-air, with natural light, using the visual-tactile method. The teeth were cleaned with cotton and dried with air bulbs to detect the presence of incipient dental caries, which were recorded in the dental chart, in the part corresponding to the affected surface. Buccal hygiene was calculated according to O'Leary index.
Results: it was found that the 22.5 % of the schoolchildren presented these lesions; the 74.6 % had a deficient buccal hygiene, of them, the 52.7 % had incipient caries lesions; the 32.2 % reported to consume sweetened food 4 or more times a day who developed a higher number of incipient lesions. Of the schoolchildren who used fluoride toothpaste, only the 18 % presented these lesions; children with DMFT index equal to 0 and those who presented two or more caries, resulted to be equally affected by incipient lesions.
Conclusions: children with deficient buccal hygiene presented a higher number of incipient lesions, similarly to the ones who consumed sweetened food four or more times a day. The ones who used fluoride toothpaste daily resulted to be less affected.
Key words: white spot, incipient lesion, dental caries, risk factors.
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