Caries morbidity in 5-year-old children under a focused dental program

AIM: to compare the dental morbidity in 5-year-old children regarding an effective coverage of a dental care program in kindergarten. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was conducted on the intentional sampling of 159 5-year-olds attending a kindergarten in the Municipality of Avellaneda, where a dental program is being conducted with a preventive profile and a resolutive level until integral discharge 1.  The dental-caries morbidity variable was operationalized with the ceod/ceos indexes. The variables analyzed were: systematic dental attention within the program, and years of effective coverage. These were used to define sample groups: Group A (GA): with systematic dental care, (GA2): with two years of effective coverage, and (GA1): with a year of effective coverage; Group B (GB): without systematic dental care. Statistical processing: the average, standard deviation, median, and quartiles were calculated in order to describe the quantitative variables. To compare the dental state components, non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests with Bonferroni correction were applied. In every case, the statistical tests applied are for independent samples. A significance level lower than 5% was used to reject the null hypothesis. RESULTS: the values of the ceod (median ±DS) were GA1= 2 ±2,9 / GA2=1,8 ±2,1 / GB= 5,7 ±3,9, with a median: GA1=1 /GA2=1 /GB=5. The c/ceod component (median ±DS) was: GA1= 1,2 ±2,6 / GA2= 0,9±1,6 / GB=5,1±3,7. The o/ceod component (median ±DS) was: GA1= 0,6 ±1,4 / GA2= :0,5±1,1 / GB= 0,4±0,9. The values of the ceos index (median ±DS) was: GA1= 2,9± 3,9 / GA2=:1,6±3 / GB= 8,7±8,1, with a median: GA1=1 / GA2=0 / GB=7. The c/ceos component (median ±DS) was: GA1= 2±2,8 / GA2= 1,1±2,5 / GB= 7,9±7,6. The c/ceos (median ±DS) was: GA1= 0.6 ±1,4 / GA2= 0,5±1,1 / GB= 0,4±0,9. Significant differences were found for all ceod index components among Group B and groups A1 and A2 (p<0,01). CONCLUSION: at 5 years of age, dental morbidity was significantly lower in 5-year-olds that received systematic oral health care in kindergarten.