First permanent molars´ health status in adolescents. Secondary School “Luis Pérez Lozano”. Cienfuegos

Abstract

Introduction: the knowledge of the school population´s oral health is a necessary premise for carrying out a correct planning, organization and control of the dental care.
Objective: to determine the health status of the first permanent molars in students of the secondary school “Luis Pérez Lozano” of the health area 7, Cienfuegos, from January to December 2015.
Materials and methods: an observational, descriptive study applied in a universe of 197 seventh-grade children. The sampling was two-staging, combining the randomized, stratified, proportional and simple sampling. The sample was obtained through the oral examination. The variables taken into account were age, sex, health status, and location of the affected molars.
Results: the higher percentage of carious permanent first molars corresponded to the right and left mandibular first molar for 11.9 % in male sex and to the first left permanent molar in female sex with 11.6 %. The fillings of the first left mandibular molars predominated with 16.6 % in the male sex, and the right mandibular one in women with 13.9 %. The highest number of lost permanent molars was found among the lower ones, the left mandibular in girls (9.3 %) and the right mandibular in boys (7.1 %). Both sexes were equally affected, with a 1 % percent difference.  The Clune’s index showed that healthy molars are 52.3 % for the male sex and 53.4 % for the female sex.
Conclusions: in general, the first permanent molars´ health status is classified as regular because there is a substantial number of carious ones.