Increment of Dental Caries in Infants from the City of Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil: 3-Year-Follow-up

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the increment of dental caries and potential clinical risk factors for this increase within a 3-year-period (1998-2001). Method: A prospective longitudinal study on dental caries was performed between 1998 a 2001 in a sample of 136 children aged 12 years and 30 months, in the city of Feira de Santana, BA. The city has fluoridated water supply and the children were evaluated at three different moments: baseline, after 1 year and after 3 years. At the three moments, intraoral examination was performed for detection of dental caries (dmf-t index), dental plaque and white spot lesions on the buccal surfaces of maxillary incisors and presence of molars. Data were analyzed by distribution of absolute and relative frequencies, means, median and standard deviation, and use of chi-square, Wilcoxon test of signalized posts, Mc-Nemar and Fisher’s tests. Significance level was set at 5%. Results: The prevalence of dental caries in the baseline examination was 5.9%, 18.4% after 1 year and 40.4% after 3 years, denoting an increment of 39.7%. It was confirmed the significant association between the variables white spot lesions, visible plaque and previous caries experience with the increment of dental caries after 3 years. There was no association with the presence of primary molars. Conclusion: The prevalence of dental caries after 3 years was approximately 7 times higher than that of the baseline examination and twice as higher as that of the baseline examination. The clinical risk factors identified in this study are important indicators of the increment of dental caries in very young children.