RESUMEN
AIM: The aim of this survey was to know the dental caries prevalence and severity in the 6 years old population from San Fernando (Cádiz). DESIGN: This is a cross sectional survey. EMPLACEMENT: We studied every schoolchildren at this age (100%) from the 27 city schools, in 1993. PARTICIPANTS: We studied 1439 schoolchildren of this age. This is one of the ages recommended by WHO in this class of surveys. INTERVENTIONS: We made an oral exploration following the WHO recommendations in this type of surveys. RESULTS: Dental caries prevalence reached 79% at this age. Dental decay index were; df-t index was 3.19; DMF-T was 0.68 and filling index was 11.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results of caries prevalence and epidemiological dental index, are higher in comparison with the results of other studies, which shows the severity of the dental decay problem in San Fernando. We still need educational and preventive programs in order to decrease dental caries prevalence and severity.