Abstract

AMARILLA, Cristell et al. Dental health status and diet of indigenous children from the Pykasu community of the Paraguayan Chaco. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2016, vol.14, n.1, pp.40-49. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/Mem.iics/1812-9528/2016.014(01)40-049.

The indigenous people of the community of Pykasu of the Paraguayan Chaco (ethnic group Guaraní Ñandeva) have no access to oral health problems due to distance and road conditions. This descriptive cross-sectional observational study aimed to determine the oral health status and diet of 57 children in this community between 3 and 13 years, using DMFs and DMFT indices, OHI-S and Mühlemann Groove bleeding rate. The average of the DMFs in the deciduous dentition was high (5), in the mixed dentition DMFs values were moderate (3.5) and DMFT low (1.6) while DMFT values were moderate in the permanent one (3.6) according to the scale of the WHO. In relation to OHI-S scale, the majority of subjects (65%) has an index value considered to be regular. The majority of the population (94.8%) presented hemorrhage on probing greater than 10% of the surfaces of the probed teeth. The diet was balanced and the consumption of sugars and starches refined was little frequent, as well as consumption of fruits of the area with high fiber content like the carob tree which is consumed by 100% of the children, mostly more than 6 pods a day.

Keywords : Public health, OHSI; dmft; Mühlemann sulcus bleeding index; diet; Pykasú indigenous community; Paraguayan Chaco.

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