RESUMO
This study was performed in 1992 with three aims: to assess precisely the prevalence of dental carries in the child population of Wallis Island; to evaluate the need for dental care; and create a database allowing the oro-dental status to be followed and the effectiveness of preventive programmes to be assessed. The total population of the Wallis Islands according to the 1990 (the most recent) census was 8,973 living in twenty villages. The population was classified into four ethnic groups: Wallisian (94.4%), Futunian (1.2%), European (3.9%) and miscellaneous (0.5%). The lifestyle of the population is traditional and there is virtually no manufacturing, overseas trade or tourism. The population of Wallis Island is young, with 56.6% of the population under 20 years old. Almost all the children attended school from the age of 6 to the age of 19 [3]. Half the Island's children (n = 1407) between the ages of 5 and 15 years old were classified into 11 age groups and were examined. Children from all schools were included in the study group which was representative of the child population of Wallis Island (94.4% were Wallisian) (table 1). The study was performed according to the 1988 WHO guidelines [4] and Cahen [5]. At age 5, a mean of 3.26 teeth had erupted. The permanent dental set (other than the 3rd molars) were present by age 12 years in virtually all cases. The percentage that had carrie-free permanent teeth were 89.9% at age 5, 59.9% at age 6, 22% at age 12 and only 13.4% at age 15.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)