PURPOSE: To evaluate the periodontal status and the treatment needs of Chilean school-children METHODS: Prevalence study. Sample: 1,637 schoolchildren from 6 to 8 years old belonging to 26 communes of the Santiago Metropolitan Region of Chile, stratified according to socioeconomic level in accordance with the 2003 CASEN survey (National Socioeconomic Characterization Survey). Periodontal status was estimated using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) and following the recommendations of the WHO (World Health Organization), along with the records of the Clinical Criteria of Gingival Inflammation. Data were analyzed using a chi-square test. RESULTS: Gingivitis prevalence was 68.42%, a result that is higher than the national prevalence (P<0.01; 95% CI=0.66-0.70). The prevalence increased with age (P<0.01) but was similar in both sexes (P=0.838). Prevalence was relatively constant among three socioeconomic levels (P=0.417). According to the CPITN, gingivitis prevalence was 29.57%: 27.49% consisting of children with gingival hemorrhage and 2.08% consisting of children with gingival calculus. The treatment needs of this population are that 27.49% of children require oral-hygiene instruction, and 2.08% need oral-hygiene instruction and subgingival and supragingival scaling. CONCLUSION: The gingivitis prevalence found in this study was higher than the national proportion in Chile.
Prevalence of gingivitis; Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Need; epidemiology
