title: Trends in dental caries rates in 12- and 13-year-old schoolchildren from Florianópolis (Brazil) between 1971 and 2005.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate dental caries prevalence and severity among all 12- and 13-year-old schoolchildren enrolled in a public school in 2005 and to establish comparisons with the results of studies previously conducted in the same school in 1971, 1997 and 2002.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study involving 190 children was carried out. A single calibrated examiner collected the clinical data according to the World Health Organization (1997) criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 90.0%. Between 1971 and 2005, the observed reduction in caries prevalence was 58.2%, whereas the mean DMFT Index declined from 9.2 to 0.8, which corresponds to a reduction of 91.3%. The significant caries index (SiC) reduced from 3.4 (CI 95% 3.0-3.8) in 2002 to 2.2 (CI 95% 1.8-2.5) in 2005.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates an actual decline in dental caries prevalence and severity among the schoolchildren during the studied period, even though different diagnostic criteria were used.
authors.affiliation: Curso de Graduação em Odontologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
authors.forename: Marina Leite
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: João Luiz Dornelles
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male