Abstract
This study explored the association between family cohesion and self-perceived need for dental treatment among adolescents. A school-based representative cross-sectional study was conducted with 746 students aged 15 to 19 randomly selected from schools in Campina Grande, Brazil. Parents/guardians provided information on sociodemographic data, and students completed questionnaires about the self-perceived need for dental treatment, dental pain, and family cohesion and adaptability (FACES III). Two dentists were trained (kappa >0.80) to diagnosis dental caries using the Nyvad criteria and assess adolescents' level of functional oral health literacy (BREALD-30). Descriptive analysis was performed, followed by nonadjusted and adjusted robust binary logistic regression for complex samples (α = 5%). The prevalence of self-perceived need for dental treatment was 88.6%. The presence of dental caries (OR = 2.10; IC 95%: 1.22–3.61), tooth loss (OR = 15.81; IC 95%: 2.14–116.56), dental pain in the last six months (OR = 1.87; IC 95%: 1.06–3.31), and enmeshed family cohesion type (OR = 10.23; IC 95%: 3.96–26.4) remained associated with the self-perceived need for dental treatment in the final model. In conclusion, dental caries, dental pain, tooth loss, and family cohesion influenced the self-perceived need for dental treatment in adolescents.
Highlights
Self-perceived need for dental treatment is a subjective measure that depends on how people assess their oral health condition [1,2,3] and may influence the search for dental services [4], acting as an important predictor of dental care utilization [5]
A previous study conducted in Brazil among adolescents demonstrated that the self-perceived need for dental treatment was the main reason for dental visits for this age group [13]
Previous studies have shown that aspects such as lower quality of life related to oral health, sociodemographic factors, searching dental services for treatment, dental pain, dissatisfaction with teeth and mouth, and dental caries were associated with the selfperceived need for dental treatment in adolescents [3, 14]
Summary
Self-perceived need for dental treatment is a subjective measure that depends on how people assess their oral health condition [1,2,3] and may influence the search for dental services [4], acting as an important predictor of dental care utilization [5]. Previous studies have shown that aspects such as lower quality of life related to oral health, sociodemographic factors, searching dental services for treatment, dental pain, dissatisfaction with teeth and mouth, and dental caries were associated with the selfperceived need for dental treatment in adolescents [3, 14]. A growing number of cross-sectional studies have examined the association between low family cohesion and dental problems such as dental caries in adolescents [16, 24] but the role of family cohesion in adolescents’ selfperceived need for dental treatment has not been explored This information is important because adolescents are influenced by the family environment to make decisions, as well as establish financial, psychological, and emotional dependence with guardians and parents [20, 25, 26]. The conceptual hypothesis of this study was that a higher level of family cohesion influences the prevalence of self-perceived need for dental treatment in adolescents; this study assessed the association between family cohesion and self-perceived need for dental treatment in adolescents aged 15 to 19
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