A INFLUÊNCIA DO AMBIENTE FAMILIAR NA SAÚDE BUCAL INFANTIL: UM RELATO DE EXPERIÊNCIA

In Brazil, around 53.4% of children aged five years have tooth decay in their primary teeth, highlighting the need for its control. The objective of this work is to report the experience of Dentistry students on the causes of the presence of tooth decay in children, throughout their training with children and their guardians. The results of the reflections were: presence of many carious lesions, difficulty in performing and supervising oral hygiene; excessive sugar consumption; neglect of oral care for deciduous teeth and misinformation about the harmful effects of this attitude on the quality of permanent dentures; perception that, although families are aware of the measures to be adopted to control these problems, in some of them those responsible do not have a routine supervision of oral hygiene or nutrition with excessive consumption of carbohydrates and sweets. The academics found that the more effective participation of Dentistry students in real practice scenarios in Primary Health Care can contribute to changing this perception. It is concluded that the Dentistry student, the general dentist or pediatric dentist and the family must work together to ensure that pediatric patients have better quality oral health.