Are day care centers healthy environments, when it comes to oral health?

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Monique Ferreira e
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: França, Carolina Nunes, Antunes, José Leopoldo Ferreira, Bottesini, Victor Cavallaro, Duarte, Danilo Antonio
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Baiana de Saúde Pública (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://rbsp.sesab.ba.gov.br/index.php/rbsp/article/view/3712
• topic: Promoción de la salud; Guarderías infantiles; Salud bucal; Promoção da saúde; Creches; Saúde bucal; Health promotion; Child day care centers; Oral health

Child Day Care Centers are considered healthy environments since, beyond the educational role, they still influence basic health care, taking responsibility for the physical and emotional integrity of the child, as well as guiding hygiene habits, feeding habits, and interpersonal socialization. Objectives: In this context, this study aimed to evaluate daycare environments, better understanding the health determinants present and the behavior patterns taught, as well as their association with dental caries, dental trauma, and the presence of biofilm. This is a cross-sectional study using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale Revised (ITERS-R) for assessing environments, carried out in two municipalities in the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in public and private day care centers. To evaluate caries lesions, the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criterion was followed; for the presence of biofilm, the Alaluusua and Malmivirta criteria; and for traumatic injuries, the criterion described by O’Brien. The association between environment and outcomes was verified by comparing means for numerical variables, via Student’s t-test and, for binary categorical variables, logistic regression was used. A low quality of day care centers regarding oral health was verified, with the average environment scores at the lowest value of the scale (between 1.2 and 1.4), and there was a statistically significant association between environments and caries (RC: 0.51; CI: 0.29-0.88) and with biofilm (RC: 0.27; CI: 0.17-0.42). In conclusion, there is an inadequacy of the day care environment that does not contribute to the construction of knowledge related to oral health education, which is associated with oral health outcomes. Therefore, day cares can be considered unhealthy environments regarding oral health.