Method: It was performed a cross-sectional study with a non-probabilistic sample of 48 patients with PC (from three to eighteen years-old) in an institution for patients with special needs, in northeastern Brazil . Parents and/or Caregivers answered questions related to the variables of socioeconomic and access to dental services. Oral examinations were performed by a calibrated researcher in patients with CP, with a record of the permanent decayed, missed and filled teeth (DMFT); the deciduous missed, decayed, extracted or filled teeth (dmft); the Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI); and the Community Periodontal Index (CPI). Analyzes with Chi-square and Fisher exacttests (α=0.05) were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 17.
Result: The prevalence of dental caries was 72.9%, in which DMFT (n = 40) and dmft (n = 27) means were 1.92± 2.50 and 1.74 ± 2.41, respectively. According to periodontal evaluation, 91.7% of patients had disease. The GBI (n = 13) mean was 14.42 %. The CPI evaluation (n = 35) detected the prevalence of gingival bleeding (97.1%), calculus (82.9%), shallow (23.1%) and deep (7.7%) pouchgingival bag. Access to dental appointment was obtained by 79.2 % of patients, in which 76.3% happened in the public sector. Caregivers had, in average, 8.33 ± 4.37 years studied. The family income per number of people was $ 102.73 ± 44.80. Dental caries in primary dentition was 85.7% in children with a family income less than $ 94.53/person (p<0.05; PR:0.95 [0.014-0.660 ]) . The periodontal disease was not associated with socioeconomic factors and with the access to dental care (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Pediatric patients with CP showed high prevalence of dental caries. Children from lower income were more likely to have tooth decay. Periodontal disease was not associated with factors under study.