Abstract
The aim of the present study was to test the association between social vulnerability and the prevalence of traumatic dental injury (TDI). A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,556 schoolchildren aged 11 to 14 years in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The participants were examined for TDI using Andreasen’s criteria and those diagnosed with TDI were interviewed to determine the history of the injury. The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was used for socioeconomic classification, which addresses environmental, cultural, economic, legal and security/survival dimensions. The Poisson regression model was used for the multivariate analysis, with the significance level set at 5%. The prevalence of TDI was 14.1%; 59.3% of the participants with TDI did not seek a dentist after the incident. Poorer environmental, economic and legal conditions were statistically associated with the occurrence of untreated TDI (p < 0.05) and all the five SVI dimensions were associated with seeking a dentist due to TDI (p < 0.006). The prevalence of untreated TDI was higher among boys (PR: 1.42; 95%CI: 1.11–1.81) and those in situations of greater social vulnerability (PR: 2.27; 95%CI: 1.11–4.61). In conclusion, the male gender and high social vulnerability proved to be associated with the occurrence of TDI.
Highlights
The importance of socioeconomic conditions and one’s living environment has been studied over the few past decades in relation to the development of oral health problems [1,2,3,4]
In conjunction with individual characteristics traditionally associated with traumatic dental injury (TDI) [7,9,13,15,16,17], the infrastructure of the area in which children live may influence the prevalence of TDI [2,3,14]
As an additional 10.0% of schoolchildren were invited to participate in the study to compensate for refusals, the final sample size was slightly larger than the estimated minimal size needed to satisfy the requirements (n = 1,462)
Summary
The importance of socioeconomic conditions and one’s living environment has been studied over the few past decades in relation to the development of oral health problems [1,2,3,4]. Some studies have demonstrated the importance of the neighborhood, environment and social capital with regard to the occurrence of TDI [1,2,3,4,14]. In conjunction with individual characteristics traditionally associated with TDI (boys suffer with more tooth injuries than girls and children with increased overjet have a greater prevalence rate of this condition) [7,9,13,15,16,17], the infrastructure of the area in which children live may influence the prevalence of TDI [2,3,14]
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