Valoración de los hábitos alimentarios-prácticas de higiene bucal e índice de placa bacteriana en niños de 10-48 meses de edad que asisten al centro de cuidado infantil "Perpetuo Socorro" Cuenca, 2013-2014

Abstract

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, that aimed to evaluate oral hygiene practices and the bacterial plaque index in 150 children aged between 10-48 months, who attend the ―Centro de Cuidado infantil Perpetuo Socorro‖, in the city of Cuenca. According to the population’s general characteristics, the mean age was 31.31 months, the 63.3% were under three years old, and the 36.7% were older than three years old, of which 83 were men and 67 were women. The study initiated with the registration of each child and his or her general information, then, an oral hygiene survey of the practices of the child was realized to the parents and to the teachers of the center. Through the clinical oral examinations, the index of plaque of Loe Silness and the simplified hygiene index were obtained, the frequency of buccal hygene and the presence of bacterial plaque were calculated in relation of the age and the gender of the children, and the mean of the index of plaque of Loe Silness was evaluated in relation with the type and form of feeding. The mean of the index of plaque of Loe Silness was 1.53 in children under 3 years old (95 children), and in the children of 3 years old or more (55 children) it was 1.74, comparing the two groups, there was no significant difference (p = 0.000) by ANOVA test, that is to say that the mean of the plaque index increases as the child gets older; according the gender of children, and the mean plaque index, there was no significant difference in means between boys and girls (p = 0.17). According to the oral hygiene after feeding the child, when comparing the percentages obtained, the difference is statistically significant, p = 0.009, i.e. children who do not perform oral hygiene practices after feeding, have the mean of the plaque index, in risk (=> 1), so they can develop Early Childhood Caries. If a relation of plaque index to the type of food is related, it appears that of the 150 children examined 143 (95.3%) have values of risk (=> 1) and 7 children (4.7%) have values of no risk (<1); the difference is statistically significant p = (0.021) with the test (Chi-Square-Taub-Kendall), it means that the percentage of children who have risk of plaque (=> 1) corresponding to 95.3% and are feeding on different ways, it is higher in relation to non-risk (<1) children, who are entirety only fed by milk cup. Children from the center presented a high value of the index of plaque of Loe Silness (1.61) that increases with the age of the children, which is mainly attributed to the absence of oral hygiene by the part of parents and teachers of the care Center.