Abstract
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Despite the improvement in oral health conditions observed in the Brazilian population, there are still high social inequalities that must be monitored. Objective: To evaluate income inequality in oral hygiene practices, oral health status and the use of dental services in the adult and senior Brazilian population. Methods: Data from the National Health Survey conducted in 2013 (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde - PNS 2013) were used for the population aged 18 years old or older. Results: Inequalities were found among the income strata in most of the oral health indicators evaluated. The greatest inequalities were observed in the use of dental floss, in hygiene practices (PR = 2.85 in adults and PR = 2.45 in seniors), and in total tooth loss (PR = 6.74 in adults and PR = 2.24 in seniors) and difficulty in chewing (PR = 4.49 in adults and PR = 2.67 in seniors) among oral condition indicators. The magnitude of inequalities was high in both groups in most oral condition indicators. Income was a factor that persisted in limiting access to dental services, and even the lower income segments had high percentages that paid for dental consultations. Conclusion: Based on data from the first PNS, the findings of this study enabled the identification of oral health and dental care aspects more compromised by income differentials, thus, contributing to the planning of dental care in Brazil and to stimulate the monitoring of these disparities with data from future surveys.
Highlights
Despite the improvement in oral health conditions observed in the Brazilian population, there are still high social inequalities that must be monitored
This study was able to detect marked income inequalities in several oral health indicators, but the magnitude of the inequalities varied according to the analyzed indicator
The major disparities were observed on total tooth loss, functional dental loss and difficulty of chewing among the oral health condition indicators
Summary
Despite the improvement in oral health conditions observed in the Brazilian population, there are still high social inequalities that must be monitored. Objective: To evaluate income inequality in oral hygiene practices, oral health status and the use of dental services in the adult and senior Brazilian population. In Brazil, a comparative analysis between the years in which the Brazilian National Oral Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde Bucal — SB-Brasil) (1986, 2003, and 2010) was conducted, revealed an improvement in the oral health conditions of the adult population (35–44 years of age), with reduced DMFT (sum of decayed, missing and filled teeth), and increased OH-D (filled and healthy teeth) indexes[7]. Dental loss remained stable among seniors — around 90% in 2003 and 20109
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