Prevalence of oral changes in children attending public pediatric dental clinics in Ponta Grossa, PR, Brazil

Abstract

This investigation was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of oral alterations among 200 infants aged 0 to 24 months (108 males and 92 females), who were seen at public pediatric dental clinics from Ponta Grossa--PR, Brazil. The infants were examined during routine appointments. The data were analyzed and the results revealed that 21.00% of the children had oral conditions, which were more frequent among children aged 0 to 3 months (26.98%). The most prevalent condition was the inclusion cyst (35.71%), followed by benign migratory glossitis (23.81%) and candidiasis (11.90%). The prevalence of inclusion cysts was higher among females (10.87%), and the benign migratory glossitis was more frequently seen in males (6.48%). No tumors were found. With regard to the management of the conditions, it was noticed that no treatment was required in 76.19% of the cases. These findings are in agreement with those reported in the literature, and it was concluded that most of the oral conditions in infants are benign and do not require any treatment. In spite of that, health professionals (dentists and pediatricians) must be aware of those alterations in order to tranquilize the children's parents and to detect the need for any intervention.