Abstract
The objective of this study is to assess fulfillment of the oral health goals of the Children's Preventive Health Care Initiative in 12 Health Units (HU) of a Primary Health Care Service, in Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, through a cross-sectional analytical study on the annual dental visit coverage in early childhood. The study was comprised of 660 children born in 2010. In relation to the coverage of dental visits for each year of life of children, the health units did not achieve the set targets (100%). However, a considerable number of children (35%) had their first dental visit during the first year of life. In relation to the total number of visits, 22% of the children had never gone to the dentist and only 8% did the recommended four visits. There was a positive correlation between the ratio of the total population and children from ages 0 to 4 years in the area enrolled in the initiative, on the one hand, and the number of dental professionals and coverage in the first year of life in each health unit, on the other. Although few children had adequate follow-up visits in relation to the set targets, the percentage of coverage was higher than that found in the literature.
Highlights
Childhood caries (ECC) is a highly prevalent and severe disease that affects children in the early years of life[1] and requires early intervention and clinical approaches on an individual and collective level
In light of the need to assess the implementation process of the Children’s Preventive Health Care Initiative for Oral Health and the current lack of data in the literature on the subject, the objective of this study was to evaluate the fulfillment of the goals of this oral health initiative in the 12 Health Units (HU) of the SSC-GHC, through examining the dental visit coverage profile of a group of children born in 2010 and the relationship between the coverage profile and the composition of the Oral Health Teams (OHT), total population of the area enrolled in the initiative and number of children in the region
22% of the children had never been to a dentist, 35% made their first visit in the first year of life, 18% in the second year, 15% in the third year and 10% in the fourth year
Summary
Childhood caries (ECC) is a highly prevalent and severe disease that affects children in the early years of life[1] and requires early intervention and clinical approaches on an individual and collective level. Given the importance of prioritizing educational initiatives for this age group in Primary Health Care (PHC), the Community Health Service of the Conceição Hospital Group (SSCGHC) implemented a Preventive Health Care Initiative for oral health in its 12 health units, so that all children born after 2010 would receive at least one annual dental visit until the fourth year of life. In these visits, the oral health status of children is evaluated and proper oral care instructions are given to mothers/fathers or guardians according to the stage/age of the children, to inform caregivers about the importance of food aspects, oral hygiene and other issues in basic childcare[4]. Afterwards, oral health coverage targets in the SSC-GHC Children’s Program were set
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
