Prevalencia de caries en escolares de 6 a 15 a？os, Isla de Pascua

aim: the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of caries and some related risk factors in a group of school children from easter island. materials and methods: 116 children aged 6 to 15 years were randomly selected. individual clinical examination was performed and index cop-d, significant caries index (sic), greene and vermillon oral hygiene index (gv) were recorded. a diet survey was performed. to determine the frequency and count of streptococcus mutans and streptococcus sobrinus, stimulated saliva samples were collected from 23 rapa nui children randomly selected. finally, samples of drinking water in 3 different places of the island were analyzed to measure the amount of fluoride available. results: caries prevalence was 38%. cop-d index was 1.19. the mean value of g-v was 1.63. s. mutans and s. sobrinus were isolated and identified in 56.2% and 13.2% of the samples, respectively. the average count for s. mutans was 3.3 x105 cfu/ml saliva and for s. sobrinus was 7.2 x104 cfu/ml. a mean of 0.223 standard deviation 0.025 ppm/fluoride was observed in drinking water. according to the diet survey, 30% of children have a low risk of caries, 47% have medium risk and 23% a high risk. conclusion: according to this study 38% have caries history in permanent teeth. mean cop-d index was 1.19. in rapa nui children 0.9 and not rapa nui children 1.77.