Objective: To analyze the risk of dental caries in 12-year-old children through the use of Cariogram®.
Methods: Descriptive study conducted with 31 children, aged 12 years, in a public elementary school in a city of the Brazilian Northeast, in 2009. Data was collected regarding caries experience and related systemic disease; presence of sugar in the diet and intake frequency;
Streptococcus mutans
biofilm growth and bacterial counts; use of fluoride products, salivary flow and buffering capacity. All this data was inserted into Cariogram®, in order to obtain a profile of individual caries risk and the ability to prevent new carious lesions.
Results: It was found that 78% (n=24) of the children had individual risk of dental caries in the intermediate and high levels; 45% (n=14) of the participants had less than a 50% chance of avoiding new cavities. Furthermore, 6.45% (n=2) of the children had less than 75% possibility of avoiding new carious lesions, i.e., they featured high risk of caries development, and 12.90% (n=4) had a possibility of more than 75%, being characterized as low risk of developing such injuries. There were positive associations (p<0.05) between the presence of sugar in the diet and salivary flow, in which subjects with cariogenic diet had decreased salivary flow.
Conclusion: A caries risk pattern was found in the intermediate and high levels, with susceptibility above 10% and possibility of avoiding new caries lesions under 50%.