Abstract

Objective: Dental caries is the most prevalent disease in children. In Chile, it is unknown whether the oral health status in children population has improved after the implementation of preventive strategies and programs in the last decade. The objective was to determine the prevalence of 6-year-old children with no caries experience (ceod=0) in the country, its territorial distribution and trend in the period 2012 to 2019. Methodology: An ecological study was carried out using the dental care records of 1,020,920 6-year-old children in the Chilean Health Services. The trend over time was analyzed using a linear trend test for proportions. Results: The prevalence of 6-year-old children without caries experience increased 1.2 points per year between 2012 and 2019. The prevalence in the Arica and Iquique Health Services and in the three Health Services in the Valparaíso Region exceeds 40%. In the four Health Services in the Biobío Region and in the Chiloé Health Service it is less than 25%. Conclusions: The prevalence of 6-year-old children without caries experience has improved in the last decade and its territorial distribution presents great variability; however, it still remains low.