Background:

The poor knowledge and the low risk perception of the students are causes for dental caries constitute an oral health problem.

Objective:

To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on dental caries risk perception in 7th grade students.

Methodology:

A quasi-experimental study was carried out, with a previous and further design from September 2018 to February 2019, the population consisted of 196, it was not necessary to apply a sampling technique, since the characteristics of extension and location of the population, made possible the interaction of the researcher with all the subjects. The variables used: knowledge about dental caries prevention, risk perception and oral hygiene, the methods: theoretical, empirical (survey) and descriptive statistics.

Results:

The knowledge before the intervention was insufficient in 40.8 %, 78 % had no risk perception and 40.8 % poor oral hygiene. After the intervention 74 % had sufficient knowledge, 89.8 % risk perception and 79.1 % good oral hygiene.

Conclusions:

The intervention was effective because it managed to raise the level of knowledge and risk perception in students, as well as good oral hygiene.

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