Lourenco, C. B., Saintrain, M. V., & Vieira, A. P.2014-12-192014-12-192013Lourenco, C. B., Saintrain, M. V., & Vieira, A. P. (2013). Child, neglect and oral health. BMC pediatrics, 13(1), 188.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834883/pdf/1471-2431-13-188.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11212/1994Despite advancements in oral health policies, dental caries still a problem. The lack of parents/caregiver’s care regarding child’s oral health, which characterizes neglect, may lead to a high prevalence of caries. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the relation between dental caries and neglect in five year-old children. Methods: Quantitative study performed in two different moments. First, the children underwent oral examinations and physical inspection. Then, a semi-structured interview was performed with parents of children with high and low caries rate. Results: In all, 149 physical inspections and oral exams were performed. The number of decayed, missing and filled teeth – dmf-t was 2.75 (SD 2.83); 16 children had extremely high values (dmf-t ≥7), 85 intermediate values (1 ≤ dmf-t ≥ 6) and 48 extremely low (dmf-t = 0). Nearly all caregivers were female (96.7%; n = 29), mostly mothers (93.3%; n = 28). Associations were found between caries experience and reason of the last consultation (p = 0.011), decayed teeth and child’s oral health perception (p = 0.001). There was a trend towards a significant association between general health and decayed teeth (p = 0.079), general hygiene and caries experience (p = 0.083), and caries experience and number of times the child brushes the teeth (p = 0.086). Conclusion: There’s a relation between caries experience and children’s oral health perception by caregivers, as well as between caries experience and children’s access to dental care. There is a trend towards association between caries experience and risk factors suggestive of neglect. (Author Abstract)enchild abuseneglectparentingInternational ResourcesBrazilresearchArticle