OBJECTIVES: to describe the children assisted by a public clinic Program of Early Dental Care in Cuiabá, identifying: a) the age group of the children when entering the program; b) the use of the bottle in each age group; c) the use of the bottle at night; d) the accomplishment of oral hygiene; and e) the presence of dental caries. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was performed using 934 medical files of the children in the program between 1996 and 1998. RESULTS: 92.93% of the children entered the program aged from 0 to 36 months; until the 42nd month of age, in only one age group the number of children that used the bottle was lower than the number of children who did not; a large number of the children used the bottle at night; both oral hygiene and dental caries prevalence were directly associated to the children's age. CONCLUSIONS: it is necessary to raise population awareness of the value of oral health as the program indicated a large number of children who were weaned much too early and only one third of the children in the program had any oral hygiene at all during the first year of life.
Public health; Community dentistry; Public health dentistry; Pediatric dentistry
