EFFECT OF A HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM IN THE ORAL HEALTH PROFILE OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: AN EXPERIENCE IN THE PUBLIC NETWORK OF PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL

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 aged four to six years, living in the area assisted by an Equipe de Saúde da Família - ESF (Family Health Team) 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 the A-Form in the Sistema de Informação da Atenção Básica - SIAB (Primary Health Care Information System). Results: Caries disease was diagnosed in 58.5% (24) 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, there was no significant relation between social-sanitary conditions and the presence of oral diseases. Objetivo: Avaliar o efeito das atividades de promoção de saúde desenvolvidas em uma escola de educação infantil, no perfil de saúde bucal das crianças, relacionando as manifestações bucais com fatores sociossanitários e alimentares. Métodos: Trabalho quantitativo, de intervenção, longitudinal, descritivo, realizado com 41 pré-escolares de quatro a seis anos, da área adstrita a uma Equipe de Saúde da Família (ESF) no município de Porto Alegre-RS. A aferição da cárie e gengivite se deu por exame clínico bucal no início e ao final do estudo. O padrão alimentar foi obtido pela aplicação de um questionário e os aspectos sociossanitários das famílias, a partir dos registros da ficha A do Sistema de Informação da Atenção Básica (SIA