The teacher's image causes high influence on students' behavior, through daily contact during long time. The objective of this study was to examine the knowledge of teachers from state and municipal primary schools, about oral health. It was performed a descriptive and exploratory study with an quantitative and qualitative approach including 164 teachers, using as instrument, self-applied questions about the theme. The data was stored and analyzed by Epi Info Program version 3.5.1. Among the results, it was possible to observe that 94,5% related to work in primary schools that have activities about oral health education. In relation to information about necessary cares, 85,4% related to have received it during some moment. According to them, the information was given mainly by dentist (64,3%), students of Araçatuba Dental School (16,4%) and family (5,7%). 95,7% answered they know the meaning of dental caries and among them, 12,2% related it to food remaining on teeth, 88,4% said to know it. Among these perceptual, 50,3% attributed to the same role to protection of dental structure. It is possible to conclude that although the school is an important place for information, but it is not fully used; the teachers have little knowledge about the necessary care for maintenance of oral health, and need more information for approaching with security these themes during classes.
Child Day Care Centers; health education; oral health
