Objective: To describe the risk factors for dental caries based on an adaptation of the Cariogram ®
in children of ages three to four.
Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in which the baseline of a
homologous project was used, and which studied 120 children of ages three to four. The information
was put into the Cariogram® software, based on the following variables: caries experience, related
diseases, use of fluoride, eating frequency and diet, salivary secretion, buffer capacity, Plaque index (pi)
and number of colony-forming units (ufc) of Streptococcus Mutans (S. Mutans). The risk of caries was
found for each participant, and expressed by the software as “probability of avoiding caries”.
Results: An average probability of 71,2% for avoiding caries was obtained in all the children of the sample. The frequencies for risk ranges for caries were distributed in high (22%), moderate (27%), and low risk (69%). 35,6% of the sample presented decayed, filled and extracted teeth above the population’s average (1,86). The high and moderate risk groups’ most frequent adverse values were past caries experience and high pi. The most frequent disadvantageous variable for the low risk group was a high pi (15%).
Conclusion: More than half of the sample presented low caries risk. The most common values for the high-risk group were past caries experiences above the population mean in all its members and a high pi.
Keywords:
dental caries, Cariogram®, caries in children, caries risk
