Objective: To compare 12-year-old students from public and private schools in the city of Goiânia, Brazil, in terms of the prevalence of caries, periodontal conditions, dentofacial anomalies, and fluorosis.
Methods: In 2003, the 2002-2003 Oral Health Conditions in the Brazilian Population project (SB Brasil) was expanded to Goiânia as a cross-sectional study, as described in the present article. The sample included 1 947 students from urban schools: 1 790 (91.9%) attended public schools and 157 (8.1%) attended private schools. Data on the following oral conditions were collected through clinical examination: dental caries (decayed, missing, or filled teeth index, DMFT), periodontal condition (Community Periodontal Index, CPI), dentofacial anomaly (Dental Aesthetics Index, DAI), and dental fluorosis (Dean index). The groups were compared using the chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests.
Results: There were differences between the public and private schools for all the variables. DMFT, CPI, and DAI indexes were higher in children from public schools (P < 0.05). Fluorosis was more prevalent in students from private schools (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: The type of school was associated with the oral health condition of the children in this sample. Investments in actions and services to mitigate this inequality and its effects should be made as part of the policies to promote oral health.