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Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Breakfast Habits among Schoolchildren in the City of Uruguaiana, Brazil
Published on: July 29, 2020
[Oral health among preschool children in Brazil, 1999]
Silvia Cypriano1, Maria da Luz Rosário de Sousa, Lilian Berta Rihs
1Departamento de Odontologia Social, Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Piracicaba, SP, Brasil.
Objective:
To assess dental decay, gum diseases and fluorosis prevalence and evaluate treatment needs of public preschool children.
Methods:
A cross-sectional epidemiological survey on oral health was conducted in 2,805 public preschool children aged 5 and 6 years in Piracicaba, Brazil. Children were examined by a team of ten trained dentists. It was applied a consensus technique and intra and inter agreement among examiners was assessed using the percentage of agreement.
Results:
Of the total, 44.3% children were free of dental decay at the age of 5 and 38.5% at the age of 6. The deciduous decay teeth index (dmf-t) was 2.64 at the age of 5 and 3.07 at the age of 6, and 31.9% and 37.9%, respectively, presented dmf-t greater than 3. The largest percent of treatment need (45.3%) was surface restoration. Regarding gum health, 68.6% and 72.6% of children aged 5 and 6 years presented gum bleeding. The prevalence of fluorosis was 2.6% at the age of 5 and 6.1% at the age of 6.
Conclusions:
It is necessary to develop appropriate actions and strategies for higher risk groups.
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