Cárie dentária em dentes decíduos de pré-escolares e necessidade de terapia pulpar: estudo observacional

Abstract

In childhood, dental caries is among the most prevalent chronic diseases and due to the anatomical peculiarity of deciduous teeth, caries lesions develop faster, reaching the dental pulp more frequently. Therefore, the objectives of this cross-sectional retrospective observational study were to verify the prevalence (number of children with cavitated caries lesion), caries experience (number of teeth with caries lesions) and the need for pulp therapy in primary teeth. The dental records of all five-year-old children attended between 2015 and 2019 at the Pediatric Dentistry clinics of a public university were selected. The following data were collected: number of children, sex, individual and mean dmft index, tooth and dental surface with carious lesions and pulp therapies performed (pulpotomy and pulpectomy). Data were submitted to descriptive statistical analysis. 618 dental records were analyzed. Of these, 69 (11.2%) were selected, of which 36 (52.7%) and 33 (47.8%) were female and male children, respectively. The individual dmft index ranged from 1 to 11 (mean dmfs = 3.9). In total, 256 teeth presented caries lesions, being more frequent in the lower second molar on the right side (12.9%) and on the occlusal surface (35.5%). Of the total number of teeth, only 19 (7.4%) required pulp therapy, being 3 (15.8%) pulpotomies, 14 (73.7%) pulpectomies and 2 (10.5%) without specification. It was concluded that the prevalence of caries and the need for pulp therapy in primary teeth were low and the caries experience was moderate.