[Oral health in Galician schoolchildren. 1995].

BACKGROUND

To ascertain the condition of the oral hygiene of school children 6 and 12 years of age in Galicia and to assess the degree to which said condition meets the World Health Organization (WHO) oral hygiene objectives for the year 2000.

METHODS

Observational cross-sectional study conducted in 1995 on a group of school children 6 and 12 years of age in Galicia selected by means of a multi-stage sampling by conglomerates, stratified by provinces and type of habitat.

RESULTS

This study was conducted on 1,288 school age children, 643 in the 6-year-old group and 645 in the 12-year-old group. 46.7% of the 6 year-old children and 64.2% of the 12 year-olds were found to have cavities, which means an oc index of 1.84 and a AOC index of 1.60, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

A trend toward improvement in the oral hygiene of school-age children in Galicia has been found. The oral hygiene-related objectives recommended by the WHO for the year 2000 in the region of Europe have been accomplished, as a result of which further objectives are recommended.