Abstract

ROMO-PINALES, Ma. Rebeca et al. Dental caries and some social factors in school children of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl. Bol. Med. Hosp. Infant. Mex. [online]. 2005, vol.62, n.2, pp.124-135. ISSN 1665-1146.

Introduction. As social factors bear upon the life condition of individuals, they also affect those variables associated with susceptibility or resistance to dental caries process. Describing this relationship may explain at least in part the caries distribution among populations. The aim of this study was to identify some social factors related with the frequency of dental caries. Material and methods. A cross sectional study of 549 students selected under a simple random sample scheme in a Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, a periurban area of Mexico City was undertaken. Social variables studied included parent education, occupation, and monthly income to decide on its relationship with dental caries. Results. The social factors influence on caries in children is of a different kind in females than in males. In males, a greater influence of the mother's education and of family income was observed; 66% of the children had received dental care on primary teeth and 31% on permanent teeth, 24.6% had lost at least one temporary tooth to caries, and 7.8% had lost one permanent tooth; 62% of the children needed dental treatment a new as they had a caries relapse; 69% needed dental treatment. Conclusion. Our results strongly demonstrate the influence of some social factors on the profiles of the studied population's caries, as the mother's school education and the family income; being of greater impact in males than in females which corroborates that the factors of risk are not similar according to the gender.

Keywords : Dental caries; risk; social factors; children caries.

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