Caracterización de caries dental e higiene bucal en adolescentes de 12 a 15 años

Introduction: dental caries constitute a chronic disease with a high prevalence in patients below 19 years old. Objective: to characterize dental caries and oral hygiene on teenagers ranging from 12 to 15 years of age. Method: and observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was undertaken in a population of 127 adolescents ranging from 12 to 15 years of age, in the Family Doctor Clinic Number: 10 in North Sancti Spiritus area. The variables taken into account were: gender, age, DMFS index, caries prevalence, most affected tooth types and oral hygiene. The methods used were the theoretical, empirical and descriptive statistics. Results: 66.9% of the studied teenagers showed tooth decay. Female patients with 14 and 15 years of age were the most affected group with a 40.2 to 45.7% respectively. The general DMFS index was 4.1, corresponding with a moderate caries prevalence. 55.3% of the patients showed signs of a bad oral hygiene. 49.4% of the affections appeared in the molars. Conclusions: most of the teenagers showed tooth decay, most commonly in females ranging from 14 to 15 years of age. Prevalence of cavities was moderate and oral hygiene was deficient in half of the population. Molars were the most affected tooth type.