Dental caries related to socio-economic background in Araraquara schoolchildren

The relationship between caries experience and social status has been widely reported in many countries; however, little information is available in Brazil. In an attempt to contribute to this matter, the prevalence of dental caries by a clinical examination among private (120) and public (120) children school, aged 6-11 years, of both sexes in Araraquara, SP, using DMFF, DMFS, DMFT and DMFS scores and components. The children of public school aged 6 years had higher DMFT score (6.30) than private school (1.90) (p < 05) and in other ages, there was no statistical differences (p > 05). The children of public school aged 6, 7 and 10 years had higher DMFS scores (10.95, 9.70 and 9.55, respectively) than private school (2.55, 5.15 and 4.25), however in ages 8, 9 and 11 this value was similar for both groups. The DMFT and DMFS scores of schoolchildren in public school were statistically higher than private school in all ages (p < 05). Hence we concluded that children of high socio-economic level had less caries prevalence and the number of children caries-free was higher in private school. (DBO)