Dental caries profile in Monte Negro, Amazonian state of Rondônia, Brazil, in 2008

Factors associated with caries: a survey of students from southern Brazil

OBJECTIVE

To describe the factors associated with dental caries among students from Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a random sample of 623 students of both genders, aged 10-17 years old. Tooth decay was performed using the index of the World Health Organization (1997), DMFT (permanent dentition) that expresses the sum of decayed, missing and filled teeth per person. The maternal educational level was rated using criteria of the Brazilian Association of Market Research Companies. The remaining variables were obtained by a structured questionnaire. Poisson regression analysis was used to test the association between variables using robust models and a subsequently adjusted model. Data were expressed as prevalence ratio (PR).

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis identified the following factors related to the experience of dental caries: residence in rural municipalities (PR: 1.15; 95%CI: 1.0-1.3), attending a city school (PR: 3.30; 95%CI: 1.1-9.4) or a state school (PR: 3.40; 95%CI: 1.1-9.6); and having an illiterate mother or a mother that only attended up to the 4th year of school (PR: 1.67; 95%CI: 1.1-2.4) or high school (PR: 1.54; 95%CI: 1.1-2.2).

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of caries in students in southern Brazil was associated with residence in rural areas, mother with little education and attendance to a public school.

Social determinants of health and dental caries in Brazil: a systematic review of the literature between 1999 and 2010

OBJECTIVE: To review epidemiological studies conducted in Brazil that investigated the distribution of dental caries according to socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics. METHODS: The systematic review included articles published between 1999 and 2010 available in six bibliographic sources, without any other restriction. We analyzed the bibliometric and methodological characteristics of the studies, and the direction and statistical significance of associations tested. RESULTS: Of the 1,128 references identified, 67 were incorporated into this study. There was a higher percentage of publications in the last two years and most of the studies were conducted in the South and Southeast of the country with a young population. The cross-sectional design, using a complex sampling procedure, was the most commonly adopted. The DMFT and dmft indexes were the most commonly used to measure dental caries, while sex/gender, income, education, race/skin color and type of school were the most common socioeconomic exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Most studies identified a high rates of dental caries among the poorest, least educated, black and brown and female individuals. A more detailed methodological and theoretically sound study of the relationship between dental caries and socioeconomic conditions is needed.

E-health: A Health Promotion Tool for Brazilian Amazon Region

Objective

This study aimed to describe the e-health activities of Project USP in Rondônia to promote health into the Amazonian Brazilian State Rondônia in different types of educational resources.

Methods

Population of Monte Negro county was reached by the e-health promotion activities including tele-education for community health workers, teachers and local health professionals with the videoconferencing, CD-ROM development and Cybertutor technologies. The population reached was calculated by the reach of these professionals into their daily activities.

Results

The e-health activities held by Project USP in Rondônia are reaching local stakeholders to expand the spread of health knowledge within a region with severe difficulties of access to information and health care. These stakeholders, mainly working locally in the educational and auxiliary health professions, are seizing their opportunity to provoke autonomy in the population they work with, disseminating information among children in public schools and health care, possibly reaching more than 1,380 families.

Conclusion

E-health activities showed to be important tool for health promotion to Amazonian communities. People living in regions with difficult access to many social needs, such as riverside communities, must be respected as citizens and thus their right to health must be ensured, which is provided in the Brazilian constitution, and it should be promoted through education, prevention and adequate health services.

How to cite this article

Bastos RS, Arakawa AM, Xavier A, Bastos JRM, Caldana ML. E-health: A Health Promotion Tool for Brazilian Amazon Region. World J Dent 2012;3(4):320-323.