Vigilancia de la salud dental infantil en el País Vasco

Resumen

Background: Information systems and epidemiological surveillance are essential for public health action. Every year, the Child Dental Care Program (PADI) of the Basque Country records assistance and dental cares data for its annual management. These data provides dental health indicators that may be useful as a surveillance system incorporated to its caring role. Material and methods: The DMFT index is compared to the 7, 12 and 14 years old in 24,129 children with "regular" use of PADI in 2008, with the one from 3,065 children in the sample of school children at the same age from the epidemiological study of 2008. Comparative statistical analysis of means and confidence intervals of indexes is performed. Results: The dental health indexes from PADI at 12 and 14 years old and the ones from epidemiological study show similar levels (p<0.05) and overlapping confidence intervals. The dental health indexes from PADI are slightly higher, but not statistically significantly, to the same indexes from the epidemiological study. Conclusion: The PADI data can be useful for annual monitoring of child dental health in the Basque Country and its tendency, complementing the standard epidemiological studies conducted every ten years.