To investigate the correlation between human development and dental caries in 12-year-old schoolchildren from the twenty-seven Brazilian states and to analyze the spatial distribution of these variables. Material and
Prevalence of dental caries ranged from 37.3% to 78.2% among the states. Dental caries was more prevalent in Rondônia (78.2%) and less prevalent in Santa Catarina (37.3%). Mean DMFT ranged from 1.06 to 4.81, with the highest value in Rondônia (4.81) and the lowest in Distrito Federal (1.06). HDI ranged from 0.631 (Alagoas) to 0.863 (Distrito Federal). There were negative correlations between HDI and dental caries (r=-0.504), dental caries experience (r=-0.459), decayed (r=-0.441) and missing (r=-0.441) components of the DMFT (p<0.05).