Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

Effectiveness of a preventive oral health program in preschool children

2018; UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE CAMPINAS; Volume: 17; Linguagem: Inglês

10.20396/bjos.v17i0.8652647

ISSN

1677-3225

Autores

Caroline Zeeberg, Sthefanie del Carmen Pérez Puello, Marília Jesus Batista, Maria da Luz Rosário de Sousa,

Tópico(s)

Pediatric health and respiratory diseases

Resumo

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational preventive program in oral health on preschoolers. Methods: The final sample was 71 children in the test group and 48 in the control group. Intraoral exams were conducted for caries experience (dmf-s), white spot lesions (WSL) diagnosis, dental biofilm and treatment needs (before and after intervention- the interval was 18 months). Caregivers answered a questionnaire about socioeconomic data and health behavior. The educational preventive program consisted of supervised brushing, education in oral health, fluoride application and lectures to caregivers. Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon tests (p <0.05) were used to compare data between groups. Results: Mean caries experience was 0.94 (± 3.42) and 0.94 (± 2.87) in test and control groups, respectively. Baseline mean for dental biofilm was 4.95, and final mean was 0.21 in test group (p = 0.047). Conversely, the same variables were 4.11 and 0.84 in the control group (p = 0.047). The program was evaluated as very good (54.9% of caregivers), improvement of brushing was related by 62%, and more children went to the dentist (p <0.01). Conclusion: The educational preventive program seems to be effective for dental biofilm reduction, improved brushing and dental visits, being an important strategy for oral health maintenance in children.

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