Aim. The aim of this paper is to evaluate dental care in children attending nursery schools in the city of Poznan. Material and methods. A sociomedical study was carried out among 157 parents of children, aged 10–42 months, who attended 4 nursery schools. The questions concerned the reasons of the first dental visit and the kind of dental procedures performed on the child as well as data about referals to the dentist by their paediatrician. Statistical analysis on the groups of girls and boys was done using the difference test between two proportions. Results. The most common reason for the child’s first dental visit was for oral examination (27.39%). Only 2.55% of children had their teeth varnished. As few as 1.28% of the children were referred to the dentist by a paediatrician; however, the visit was not connected with dental evaluation. Conclusions. There is a need to introduce intensive educational activities for parents so they can provide their children with professional preventive dental care beginning with the eruption of the first tooth. A major role in the prevention of oral diseases is also attributed to pediatricians because they have direct contact with a patient from the time of his/her birth.

Key words: dental care, nursery school children.