Caries and premature loss of the first permanent molar in grade school children, and parents’ knowledge level, in Vargas state, Venezuela.

Resumo

Introduction: The first permanent molars are the most affected due to age of eruption and their anatomical characteristics. Objective: to determine the prevalence of caries and premature loss of the first permanent molar in a group of grade school children 6 - 12 years of age, and to determine the level of prevention knowledge of the parents, in Vargas state, Venezuela. Materials and Methods: observational study with 182 children between 6 and 12 years old who underwent a clinical evaluation. The parents were asked about their knowledge regarding caries, methods of prevention and chronology of eruption of the child’s first permanent molar. Study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Faculty of Dentistry at Universidad Santa María. Results: 6.60% of children presented caries in tooth 16, 6.08% in tooth 26, 24.85% in the tooth 36 and 15.62% in tooth 46. Regarding premature loss, 0.55% had lost tooth 26, 4.95% tooth 36 and 4.40% tooth 46. None presented loss of tooth 16. It was observed that 90.11% of parents had knowledge about dental caries and 44.51% knew how to prevent them. However, only 12.09% knew the age of eruption of the first molar and only 7.69% knew that it has no predecessor. Conclusions: The highest percentage of caries was in tooth 36. The lower molars were the most commonly extracted. The majority of parents demonstrated to have little knowledge about caries and permanent first molars.