Prevalence of Dental Caries in Preschool Children by ICDAS Diagnostic Methodology

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of caries with the ICDAS index (International Caries Detection and Assessment System) using different cut-off points in children from public and private institutions as well as to associate the presence of caries with socioeconomic indicators, sex, age, type of school (urban or rural) and also family health program with dentist's presence at the school. Material and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study with a stratified sample (n = 612) in children ranging from three to six years old, in public and private institutions of the city of Barras, State of Piaui, Brazil. The clinical examination was based on ICDAS criteria, and a questionnaire for socioeconomic and educational level data was also applied. Different cut-off points were used, as follows: cut-off point 1 (scores 0 and 1 considered as healthy and scores 2-6 classified as decayed); cut-off point 2 (scores from 0 to 2 classified as healthy, scores 3 to 6 as decayed) and cut-off point 3 (0 to 3 healthy, 4 to 6 decayed). Univariate and Multiple Poisson regression analysis were performed, with 5% significance level. Results: For cut-off point 1, the prevalence was 68.8%; Cut-off point 2, 67.9% and at the cut-off point 3, 60.6%. An association was found in the prevalence of caries with the child's age (p = 0.004), school zone (urban or rural) (p = 0.004) and the presence of the dentist at school (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Taking into account the various cut-off points, the prevalence of caries in preschool children was considered high. The presence of caries lesions is more likely to occur in five year-old boys living in the countryside.