| Sumario: | Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate dental caries and caries activity as well as determine associations with sociodemographic factors and visits to the dentist among 5-year-old children.Subjects and methods: Seven hundred sixty-nine children enrolled in preschools in a medium-sized city in northeast Brazil participated in the study. Two examiners who had undergone training exercises performed the examinations using the ICDAS-II. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression for complex samples were performed (α = 5%). An inductive decision tree was created for the occurrence of cavitated lesions (J48 algorithm).Results: The prevalence of caries was 91.5% (59.5% cavitated lesions and 32.0% white spots). Among the children diagnosed with caries, 87.1% had active caries. In the multivariate analysis, low income (OR = 2.90; 95% CI: 1.05-8.05) and having visited a dentist for treatment (OR = 7.94; 95% CI: 2.58-24.39) were associated with dental caries (white spot and/or cavitated lesion). For caries activity, low income (OR = 4.63; 95% CI: 1.60-13.35) and having visited a dentist for treatment (OR = 4.80; 95% CI: 2.06-11.18) remained in the final model. In the decision tree, the following variables were predictors of cavitated lesions: lower parent schooling level (p < 0.001), reason for visiting the dentist (p = 0.003) and low income (p = 0.006).Conclusion: Low income and having visited a dentist for treatment were determinants of dental caries as well as caries activity in 5-year-old children. In the decision tree, low income, reason for visiting a dentist and lower parent schooling level exerted an influence on the occurrence of cavitated lesions.
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