Effect of a health education program in the oral health profile of preschool children: an experience in the public network of Porto Alegre, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Badalotti, Tatiana Stürmer
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Weigert, Karen Loureiro, Gonçalves Bos, Ângelo José
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira em Promoção da Saúde
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.unifor.br/RBPS/article/view/2636
• topic: Family Health Program; Health Education; Oral Health; Child; Preschool; Dental Caries; Gingivitis.; Programa de Salud Familiar; Educación en Salud; Salud Bucal; Preescolar; Caries Dental; Gingivitis.; Programa Saúde da Família; Educação em Saúde; Saúde Bucal; Pré-Escolar; Cárie Dentária; Gengivite.

Objectives: To estimate the effect of health promotion activities developed in a child education school, on the children’s oral health profile, relating oral manifestations to social, sanitary and feeding factors. Methods: Interventional, longitudinal and describing quantitative work, accomplished with 41 preschool children from four to six years old, living in the area assisted by a Family Health Team (Equipe de Saúde da Família-ESF) in the city of Porto Alegre-RS. Diagnosis of dental caries and gingivitis was carried out through oral clinical examination at the beginning and at the end of the study. The dietary pattern was obtained by applying a questionnaire and the social-sanitary aspects of the families, from the records of File A in the Basic Health Care Information System (Sistema de Informação da Atenção Básica-SIAB). Results: Caries disease was diagnosed in 58.5% of the children, whose dmft index (total sum of decayed, extracted and filled teeth) was 2.43. There was a decrease in the number of decayed teeth and an increase in extracted and filled teeth. The rates of visible plaque and gums bleeding got better. The social-sanitary aspects were standardized in the community, being not representative. The group presenting the highest dmft values followed a diet containing sugars, with viscous consistence and an intake frequency of four or more times a day. Conclusion: The activities of health promotion developed in the school partially changed the children’s oral conditions. There was a positive correlation between consistency, composition and frequency of diet and the presence of caries disease; on the other hand, therewas no significant relation between social sanitary conditions and the presence of oral diseases.