RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: to estimate the prevalence of pit and fissure sealants on first permanent molars in twelve year olds living in Puerto Rico and to further evaluate dental sealant prevalence by (1) urban/rural and public/private school status as well as (2) gender; DESIGN: population-based, cross-sectional study. SETTING: public and private schools encompassing the 11 health regions of Puerto Rico. SUBJECTS: a probabilistic sample of 12-year old school attendees in Puerto Rico representing a population of approximately 70,000. METHOD: during April through December 1997, the first permanent molars of 1435 subjects were evaluated by visual and tactile methods for the presence of dental sealants. RESULTS: the data collected revealed that 4.3% of 12 years olds presented at least one permanent first molar sealed. A statistically significant difference (p = 0.01) between urban-public (2.5%), rural-public (3.39%) and urban-private (11.0%) schools was observed. The prevalence of sealants was higher in males (5.5%) than females (2.9%); (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: the prevalence of dental sealants in the first permanent molars of 12-year olds living in Puerto Rico during 1997 (4.3%) is lower than that reported in the United States (18.5%). Sealant prevalence was higher in males and students attending (urban) private schools.