Oral Health of Individuals Who Attended a Mother-child Dental Care Program - Longitudinal Study

The aim of this longitudinal study was to assess the oral health of individuals attending a mother-child dental care program (PPPWB). Letters were sent to the 343 children who were examined in phase 1. One hundred and thirty nine individuals returned for the oral examination - experimental group (40.5%). The control group consisted of 139 individuals who did not receive dental care from the PPPWB. These individuals were paired to the experimental group according to their age and socio-demographic characteristics. Gingival bleeding (GBI) and DMFT indices were used in order to determine the children's oral health status. The mean DMFT and GBI in the second phase and the control group were 0.75 and 6.75, 1.47 and 10.74, respectively. It was concluded that the individuals who attended the PPPWB had better oral health status than the control group. When the two phases of the study were compared, it was noted that the individuals in the second phase had better oral health, although they had a higher score for gingival bleeding.