Dental caries and treatment needs in adolescents from the state of Sao Paulo, 1998 and 2002

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate indicators of prevalence and severity of dental caries and treatment needs in adolescents. METHODS: Data were obtained from oral health epidemiological surveys carried out in the state of Sao Paulo with adolescents from 12 to 18 years old. Dental caries experience was assessed using DMFT Index and the need for treatment was assessed using World Health Organization criteria. Significant caries index was used to define dental caries experience of one third of the group that presented greater experience of the disease. For 12-year-old group, examinations occurred in public and private schools, in 1998 (N=9,327) and 2002 (N=5,782), while 18-year-old group was examined in their households (N=5,195 in 1998 and N=257 in 2002). RESULTS: At 12 years old, DMFT index was 3.72 in 1998 and 2.52 in 2002, whereas at 18 years old, it was 8.64 and 7.13, respectively. Significant caries index at 12 was 7.40 (1998) and 5.62 (2002), at 18 it was 15.05 and 12.19, respectively. There was an increase in the need for surface restorative care at 12 year old (p<0.0001) and of sealants at 18 year old (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There was a decrease in dental caries among adolescents and most dental treatment needs were little complex.42348048

Validação inicial do índice de necessidade de atenção à saúde bucal para as equipes de saúde bucal na estratégia de saúde da família Initial validation of the index of oral healtcare needs for oral health teams in the family healthcare strategy

Este trabalho objetivou validar o Índice de Necessidade de Atenção à Saúde Bucal (INASB), a partir de um algoritmo pré-definido baseado nas condições sociais das famílias. Utilizaram-se informações obtidas na ficha A do sistema de informação da atenção básica. A validação do índice foi realizada através da validação de face e de construto, e nesta foram coletados dados de experiência de cárie, dor de dente e acesso aos serviços de saúde bucal através de uma amostra aleatória, estratificada e baseada no índice de 412 crianças nas faixas etárias 3-5 e 7-12 anos em Recife-PE. Para análise foi utilizado o nível de significância de 5%. O índice foi considerado adequado na validação de face. Na validação de construto convergente foi associado ao componente cariado do ceo-d (p = 0,03) e CPO-D (p = 0,01); e na divergente foi associado ao acesso ao dentista (p = 0,001) e ao componente obturado do ceo-d (p = 0,05) não sendo associado ao componente obturado do CPO-D. O Índice de Necessidade de Atenção à Saúde Bucal demonstrou possuir uma boa validade inicial podendo ser usado como instrumento de programação para as equipes de saúde bucal da família.<br>This survey set out to validate the Index of Oral Healthcare Needs (IOHN), based on a pre-defined algorithm of the social status of families. The validation process was divided into two phases, namely a face validation and a construct validation. In the latter, data on caries experience, toothache and access to oral health services was collected. To validate the index a random, stratified sample of 412 children aged 3-5 and 7-12 was obtained, based on the IOHCN algorithm, all the children being from the areas of Recife covered by the family healthcare program. The analysis consisted of a descriptive and an analytical phase, adopting a 5% level of significance. The index was considered by an expert committee to have good face validity. The convergent construct validation was associated with a decay component of dmft (p = 0.03) and DMFT (p = 0.01); the divergent construct validation was associated with access to oral care (p = 0.001) and filled component of dmft (p = 0.05), showing no association with the filled component of DMFT. The Index of Oral Healthcare Needs was shown to have good initial validation and canbe used as a useful tool in the planning of dental care at a local level