Objective: to describe dental caries occurrence and dental care received among 12-year-old schoolchildren in a small town in the Amazon region according to sex and area of residence.
Methods: this was a descriptive study conducted in Acrelandia-AC, Brazil, in 2010; DMFT and dental care indexes were estimated in accordance with World Health Organization recommendations.
Results: 186 schoolchildren participated, 47.8% were girls and 41.4% lived in the rural area; DMFT was 2.15 (1.77;2.52) without differences between the categories; the care index was 32.8%, with higher rates for the rural area (p<0.001).
Conclusion: although they lived in a non-fluoridated area, the schoolchildren had a caries experience and dental care pattern closer to that of Brazil as a whole rather than that of the Northern region; the hypothesis of association with the level of human development and the performance of Family Health Strategy Oral Health teams is discussed.