title: The oral health of HIV-infected Brazilian children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The number of HIV-infected people has increased almost continuously. Paediatric dentists should be concerned about the oral findings in HIV-infected children and their aetiologic factors, to promote adequate treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To present the oral health aspects of Brazilian HIV-infected children and to verify the aetiological factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted with HIV-infected children. During the medical appointments, children were submitted to visual-tactile exams of oral soft tissues and teeth. All parents answered questions in a structured interview. Data were analysed using the SPSS, release 10.0 (Chicago, IL, USA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 57 children examined, 39 (69.6%) presented one or more oral soft tissue manifestations. More than a half suffered from gingivitis and only 12.5% had no visible dental biofilm. A high prevalence of dental surfaces with active carious lesions was observed; mean DMFS-m and dmfs-m scores were 5.41 ± 5.61 and 16.77 ± 19.52, respectively. Caries activity and gingivitis were correlated with the presence of mature dental biofilm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prevalence of soft tissue lesions, dental caries and gingivitis in HIV-infected children was high and correlated to lack of satisfactory oral hygiene habits, suggesting the need of therapeutic programmes that allow these children to recover their oral health.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Dentistry and Cariology, Department of Specific Formation, Faculty of Dentistry, Fluminense Federal University, Nova Friburgo, Brazil. apoenaribeiro@vm.uff.br
authors.forename: Apoena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Aguiar Ribeiro
authors.forename: Maristela Barbosa
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Portela
authors.forename: Ivete Pomarico Ribeiro
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: de Souza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D015995:Prevalence