Dental caries urgencies in patients aged 4 to 12 years. Municipality of Píritu, Venezuela. 2011

Abstract

We carried out a cross sectional, descriptive, observational study in patients assisting the odontological clinic of Píritu, Falcon State, Venezuela, in the period from June to December 2011, who were dental caries urgencies; the aim was identifying caries behavior in ages from 4 to 12 years; dental caries were classified according to the lesions location and deepness; the most frequently found acute pulpy pathologies, and the risk factors were diagnosed. With a directed sample of 160 children, the information was obtained using different techniques, like patients and relatives questioning, extra oral and intra oral observation, groping, and teeth exploration and percussion. As a result we found a higher percent of the male gender and the age group from 7 to 9 years; most of the cases were transitory pulp diseases, and the most affected teeth sides were the occlusal sides and surface dentina; the most common risk factors associated to caries appearing were dental bacterial plaque and cariogenic diet.