Abstract
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of individual and contextual factors on the occurrence of toothache in five-year-old children. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 756 five-year-old children from public and private preschools in a city in the countryside of the northeast of Brazil. The sample was determined through probabilistic sampling in two stages (preschools and children). The children included could not have systematic diseases, permanent tooth or orthodontic treatment. Parents/caregivers were required to spend at least 12 hours per day with their children. The history of toothache during the life of the child was reported by parents/guardians. Socioeconomic and psychological questionnaires were completed by parents/guardians. Variables related to social context were obtained from the preschools in which the children studied and the official publications of the municipal region. Unadjusted and adjusted multilevel Poisson regression models were used to investigate the association between individual and contextual characteristics and history of toothache. The history of toothache was found for 23.8% of the children. Among the individual determinants, gender of the child, order of birth, and schooling of parent/guardian were associated with toothache in children. The individual variables remained associated with the outcome after the addition of the contextual variables to the model. The type of preschool was the contextual determinant associated with toothache in the final model. Both individual (gender, order of birth and schooling of parents/guardians) and contextual (type of preschool) determinants were associated with history of toothache in five-year-old children.
Highlights
Toothache is a subjective indicator of oral health and can have an impact on oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL), causing functional and social impairment [1]
Due to the major impact that toothache can have on OHRQoL, one of the aims of the Global Goals for Oral Health 2020 is to reduce the prevalence of tooth pain and its consequences in the population [5]
In bivariate analysis of multilevel Poisson regression, the history of toothache was significantly associated with parents’/guardians’
Summary
Toothache is a subjective indicator of oral health and can have an impact on oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL), causing functional and social impairment [1]. Having children with toothache results in greater absenteeism of parents from work [2], as well as increased financial expenses [3] and parental guilt [4]. Due to the major impact that toothache can have on OHRQoL, one of the aims of the Global Goals for Oral Health 2020 is to reduce the prevalence of tooth pain and its consequences in the population [5]. Studies that evaluate the factors associated with the occurrence of toothache and help achieve this goal are required
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