As dimensões do acesso aos serviços de saúde bucal na mídia impressa

Factors associated with recent and regular non-use of dental services by students from a university in southeastern Brazil: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Lack of use of dental services can be a risk factor for oral health. In addition to recent visits to dental services, it is important to assess the regularity of use of these services, as well as the motivations for visiting the dentist. There is a gap in literature studies on the patterns of use of oral health services by the young university students. The goal of this study was to assess the factors associated with recent and regular non-use of dental services by young university students, using the Andersen model as a reference.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study with 477 university students between 18 and 24 years old, carried out as a web survey, through which predisposing, enabling and need variables were collected, according to the model proposed by Andersen, to test the factors associated with recent and regular non-use of dental services. Bivariate analyses and robust Poisson regression were performed, with estimation of crude and adjusted prevalence ratios, using confidence intervals of 95%. The variables with p < 0.05 remained in the final model.

RESULTS

The prevalence of recent non-use was of 19.5% (95% CI 16.0-23.3%), and of regular non-use, of 53.5% (95% CI 48.9-58.0%). After the adjusted analysis, the following were found to be associated with the outcome of recent non-use: type of service used (PR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.85-0.98) and perceived need for dental treatment (PR = 0.98; 95% CI 0.97-0.99); and the following variables were associated with regular non-use: father's level of education (PR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.78-0.96), area of study (PR = 1.08; 95% CI 1.02-1.15), reason for last dental appointment (PR = 0.81; 95% CI 0.75-0.88), use of dental services throughout childhood (PR = 0.92; 95% CI 0.86-0.97), self-perceived oral health (PR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.76-0.88), and toothaches over the last 2 years (PR = 0.93; 95% CI 0.87-0.99).

CONCLUSION

The motivation for young university students to use dental services are curative treatment needs, not prevention. The results point to the need to implement health prevention and promotion policies in higher education institutions and to expand access to dental services for this young population.

“Com dor de dente, tudo é ruim nesta vida!”: saúde bucal na comunidade indígena de Tremembé, Ceará, Brasil

Este estudo teve por objetivo analisar a importância do cuidado em saúde bucal de informantes da comunidade indígena Tremembé, em Itarema, Ceará, Brasil. Neste estudo exploratório de caráter qualitativo, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com seis adultos considerados informantes-chave da comunidade. As percepções mais presentes nos discursos indicaram o reconhecimento da importância no cuidado em saúde bucal, com foco na higiene dentária, necessária para a socialização. As falas relacionaram a valorização da alimentação saudável, associada à boa qualidade da saúde bucal, com a valorização do conhecimento tradicional como prática de cuidado. No entanto, os discursos apresentaram uma focalização na assistência clínica para adultos, em detrimento de aspectos educativos. As percepções revelaram potencial para integração de cuidados dos profissionais de saúde e dos atores sociais que possuem papel de liderança na comunidade indígena.

“With a toothache, everything seems to be bad in life!”: oral health in the indigenous community of Tremembé, Ceará, Brazil

This study aimed to analyze the importance of oral healthcare in the Tremembé indigenous community, municipality of Itarema, state of Ceará, Brazil. In this exploratory and qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were carried out with six adults considered key informants in the community. The perceptions most frequently found in the discourses indicated that the informants recognize the importance of oral healthcare and focus on dental hygiene, necessary for socialization. The discourses related valuation of healthy eating - associated with good oral health - to valuation of traditional knowledge as a care practice. However, the discourses focused on clinical care for adults at the expense of educational aspects. The perceptions showed that it is possible to int egrate the care delivered by health professionals with the care provided by social actors who have a leadership role in the indigenous community.

Oral health access in Brazil: analysis of inequities and non-access from the service user's perspective, according to the National Primary Care Access and Quality Improvement Program, 2014 and 2018

OBJECTIVE

To investigate factors associated with non-access to oral health in Brazil.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of data from external evaluations of the National Primary Care Access and Quality Improvement Program (2014 and 2018), using hierarchical multivariate logistic regression. 'Non-access' was defined as the service user not being able to make an appointment with a dentist.

RESULTS

We analyzed data on 37.262 individuals (2014 sample) and on a further 117.570 individuals (2018 sample). Greater likelihood of non-access was found for those who live in municipalities with greater inequalities and with less oral health coverage, those whose travel time to the health center is more than 11 minutes, being female, being aged between 25 and 39 years and those whose income was up to 1 minimum wage.

CONCLUSION

Non-access was associated with municipal factors such as greater inequality; organizational factors such as less oral health coverage and travel time to the health center; and individual factors such as sex, age and income.