DENTAL CARIES AND TREATMENT NEEDS IN 12-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF RIONEGRO

Introduction: analyzing dental caries conditions of 12-year-old population allows verifying how much of the oral- health related goals have been achieved. The objective of this study was to describe the experience and prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs of 12-year-old school children in the municipality of Rionegro. Methods: this was a cross-sectional descriptive study on 808 schoolchildren aged 12 years from public schools of the municipality of Rionegro. Both traditional ( T ) and modified ( M ) decayed, missing and filled teeth indexes (DMFT T and DMFTM) were used, as well as the Significant Caries Index (SiC). The obtained data were analyzed according to gender, education level, place of residence, and health insurance status. Results: the DMFT T value among the studied population was 1.70 (± 1.63) and the DMFT M was 2.19 (± 1.92). The prevalence of cavitated caries lesions was 59.9%, and for all the lesions it was 70.8%. Caries experience for the DMFTT was 69.9%, and 77.8% in the case of DMFTM. The SiC measured