Pediatric dental care in a tertiary public hospital. Four years of experience in the Service of Stomatology of Valencia University General Hospital (Valencia, Spain).

A study is made of the experience gained with the Child Oral Care Program (Plan de Atencion Dental Infantil, PADI) in the Service of Stomatology of Valencia University General Hospital (Valencia, Spain) after four years in operation (July 2003 - July 2007). Study design: The sample comprised 2626 children between 5-14 years of age, pertaining to department 9 of the Valencian public health system. A clinical history was compiled in each case, a radiological study was made, and a treatment plan was elaborated including fillings, extractions, and control visits. Results: Of the 2626 designated children, 2369 visited our Service - mostly referred from the Preventive Dental Care Units. A total of 5784 fillings were carried out (93.3% with silver amalgam, 5.6% with composites and the rest as provisional fillings). The permanent first molars were the teeth with the largest number of fillings (70.2% of the total). These were followed in order of frequency by the second molars (19.1%). As regards composite resin fillings, most involved the upper central incisors, followed by the upper lateral incisors. A total of 644 extractions were performed, corresponding to 110 permanent teeth and 534 temporary teeth. In the case of the permanent dentition, the first molars were the most commonly removed teeth. In the temporary dentition, the most frequently removed teeth were the second molars. Conclusions: The response of the population to this program has been very good, and reinforces the preventive measures already in place, with the provision of restorative treatments to improve the oral and dental health of the pediatric population, and yielding good results in terms of the program quality indicators. The Service of Stomatology (Valencia University General Hospital) is able to address the demand and offers the public health network integrated and continuous patient care.