Impacto da cárie precoce severa na infância na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal de pré-escolares sob privação social

Early childhood caries, especially in its severe form, which is characterized by an acute and aggressive nature, can have negative impacts on thequality of life of a child, due to effects such as difficulty in chewing, decreased appetite, weight loss, insomnia, changes in behavior and a decreased performance in school, among others. Moreover, the quality of life of the child`s family can also be affected, as the pain and discomfort caused by this type of caries result in loss of working days of parents, spending on dental treatments, changes in sleep patterns and stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of severe early childhood caries in the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of public daycares`s preschool children through the Escala de Impacto da Saúde Bucal na Primeira Infância, a Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS). A single calibrated examiner (kappa=1.0) evaluated, through the dmfs index, the oral health of 116 children aged between 3 and 5, which were included in one of three study groups: "caries-free", "not-severe early childhood caries" and "severe early childhood caries". The parents responded to ECOHIS, to assess their perception regarding the OHRQoL of their children, and a questionnaire on socioeconomic conditions. The OHRQoL was measured through the total scores and domains of ECOHIS. Descriptive analysis, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test and Poisson multiple regression with robust variance were used. Among the children observed, 38.8% were caries-free, 27.6% showed not-severe early childhood caries and 33.6% showed severe early childhood caries. Regarding the total score of ECOHIS, severe early childhood caries had a greater negative impact on OHRQoL, compared to caries-free and not-severe early childhood caries groups (p <0.001). Regarding the child subscale, there was significant difference between the "severe early childhood caries" group and the other groups in all domains, except for theone of self-image / social interaction. In the family subscale domains, there was statistical significance between the severe early childhood caries and the caries-free groups in all domains (p <0.001), whereas between the "severe early childhood caries and not-severe early childhood caries groups there was a statistically significant difference only in the domain of parental anguish (p <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that early childhood caries and the parent`s age were significantly associated to OHRQoL (p <0.05), independently of the other variables in the model. The presence of severe early childhood caries resulted in greater negative impact on OHRQoL (AdjPR= 6.016; 95%CI = 3.12 11.56; p<0.001), while older parents reported better OHRQoL (AdjPR = 0.603; 95%CI = 0.428 - 0.850; p = 0.004). The presence of severe early childhood caries had a negative impact on OHRQoL of preschool children and their families.

Assistência odontológica diferenciada para crianças de 0 a 3 anos: avaliação de impacto no Serviço Público Municipal em Natal-RN

In Brazil, 0-5 years old children just have an oral health care system since 1990 s. Innumerable experiences of implantation of the attendance to the babies in the cities had appeared throughout the years, but it hasn´t been evaluated the comparative effect between children displayed and not displayed to the program. In this regard, the main of this research was describe the Early Childhood Oral Health Care in public health service in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil and evaluate the impact of this specific oral health care for babies by comparison of indicators between exposed and non-exposed children. It was created an experimental group, formed by children covered by program which was paired, based on sex, age and socioeconomic status, with a control group, formed by uncovered children. After filling ethical application, the parents of children were questioned about some risk factors to dental caries and, in sequence, it was accomplish an oral examination in the child. It was verified the Visible Plaque Index (VPI), Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI), dmf-s and verification of caries activity. The sample was 40 children in each group. The results showed, for VPI, a difference of 7 percentile points for the experimental group, however this difference had no statistical significance, obtained by Student s t test (p=0.314). In relation to GBI, the control group showed a low mean (0.8%) comparing with experimental group (2.77%) and this difference was statistically significant (p=0.003). The results for dmf-s and evaluation of caries activity showed no statistical difference between groups. Among the probable reasons for absence of impact of intervention, could be included: (a) the practice model was the same in two groups, or the difference was very weak and (b) the oral health care has intrinsic limitations for to impact on oral health in low income populations