Determinantes de salud oral en población de 12 a？os

aim: to determine caries prevalence and risk factor associated to caries experience and oral health self perception in 12 year-old school children. the study makes comparisons between urban and rural children of maule region, chile. subjets and methods: cross sectional study in a convenience sample of 285 school children from four counties. oral examinations were carried out by one calibrated clinician. demographic variables, dmft index, oral hygiene index, oral health self perception were measured, as well as the last visit to the dentist. results: caries prevalence was 63.9%. no statistical difference was found based on gender and residence area. boys had 3.17 (95% ic 1.62-6.20) times more risk to have a dmft = 0 than girls. oral hygiene was also associated to dmft=0 (or=0.24 95% ic 0.10-0.57). oral hygiene was associated to residence area and socioeconomic status. urban boys were 5.6 times more at risk to have an optimal hygiene than rural boys (95% ic 2.68-11.95). children from low and medium socioeconomic status were prevented to have an optimal hygiene (or= 0.17 95% ic 0.04-0.66). oral health self perception was not associated to any studied variable. conclusion: rural school children had the worst oral health indicators. these results show oral health inequities in 12 year-old school children. thus, it is necessary to design health promotion and diseases prevention strategies according to their needs.