Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors associated with toothache in the adult population of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Individual data from a population sample (age 35 to 44 years) were collected from a secondary database of the SB Minas survey. Sampling was carried out by clusters and with multiple drawing stages. The eligibility criteria were to reside in areas chosen for the research, be within the age group, and accept to participate in the research. The individual variables assessed by a questionnaire and dental exams were sex, income, race/skin color, root caries, periodontal condition, need for dental treatment, and last dental appointment. The contextual variables, assessed by municipal indexes, were Human Development Index (HDI), illiteracy, unemployment, half minimum wage, quarter minimum wage, oral health team coverage, access to individual health care, and supervised tooth brushing average. The dependent variable was toothache in the past six months. A descriptive analysis was made using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling Software was used to perform the multilevel analyses for individual and contextual levels. An association was found between toothache and low income (OR = 2.00; 95%CI = 1.32-3.13), dental caries (OR = 1.86; 95%CI = 1.22-2.86), periodontal condition, and living on a quarter of the minimum wage or less (OR = 1.03; 95%CI = 1.00-1.08). Clinical and social factors were associated with toothache, reinforcing the need to improve public polices in oral health focused on the adult population.
Highlights
MethodologyThe SB Minas was an epidemiological survey of oral health carried out in Minas Gerais state from April to December 2012 that investigated the main oral health diseases at the ages of 5 and 12 and in the age groups 15–19, 35–44 and 65–74
Toothache in the past 6 months was reported by 21.1% of the respondents
The rate was lower compared with a study that investigated the relationship of neighborhood and individual social capital with dental pain in adolescents, adults, and the elderly living in three cities of Paraíba, Brazil (26.8%).[16]
Summary
The SB Minas was an epidemiological survey of oral health carried out in Minas Gerais state from April to December 2012 that investigated the main oral health diseases at the ages of 5 and 12 and in the age groups 15–19, 35–44 and 65–74. The methodology of the 2010 national survey was used as reference for the collected indices: age, draw of the municipalities, census tracts, and households and individual data.[3] The sample size was based on the severity of dental caries estimated by the DMFT index (number of teeth decayed, missing and filled), according to data from the SB Brazil 2010 for the Southeast region. The dependent variable was presence of toothache, which was assessed with the question: “Have you had a toothache over the past six months?” The data for the independent variables was structured in two levels: individual variables (level 1) nested within contextual variables (level 2) Variables such as sex, income, race, presence of dental caries, periodontal condition, dental treatment need, last dental appointment (level 1) were extracted from the SB Minas 2012 database. The final model included only variables with p-value < 0.05
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