Periodontal condition of adolescents and associated factors

This is a cross-sectional population-based study (n=763) conducted in a city in Northern Minas Gerais. Multistage probability cluster sampling method was used. Trained and calibrated professionals carried out the intraoral examinations and the interviews at the participants’ homes. Logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with the periodontal condition.

Results:

It was found that around 30% of the adolescents presented periodontal changes, being gingival bleeding (14.1%) and dental calculus (14.0%) the most prevalent impairments. Periodontal changes were associated in adolescents who did not attend school (OR=1,9; p=0.031), attended public schools (OR=2,0; p=0.005), never went to the dentist (OR=1,7; p=0,047), used public/philanthropic services (OR=1,7; p=0,002), smoked (OR=1,6; p=0,003), consumed alcohol (OR=1,6; p=0,016) and self-perceived their oral health as too bad/bad (OR=2,4; p=0,032) and regular (OR=1,5; p=0,023).

Conclusion:

About one-third of adolescents have periodontal changes, which were associated with the type of school and type of dental service they attend, smoking, alcohol consumption and self-perception of oral health.

Indexing terms
Adolescent; Adolescent health; Oral health; Periodontal diseases; Public health; Social determinants of health

Demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status
Variables	Categories
Age	In complete years
Gender	Male; Female
Self-declared skin color	White; Black/Indian/Brown/Yellow
Marital status	Married/stable union; Single
Education (years in school)	Up to 8 years; 09 to 11 years; Over 11 years
Currently at school	No; Yes
Type of school	Public; Private
Currently working	No; Yes
Monthly per capita income ^* * The cut-off point was defined by the median distribution.	≤R$200,00; >R$200,00
Housing	Rent/lent; Own
Number of people living in the house	> 1 person/room; ≤ 1 person/room
Use of dental services
Variable	Categories
Type of dental service	Public/philanthropic; Private/dental care plan/health care plan
Time since last dentist appointment	Within ≥ 1 year; < 1 year
Reason for last year’s appointment	Treatment; Routine/maintenance
Visits dentist periodically	No; Yes
Received oral hygiene instructions	No; Yes
Health-related behavior
Variables	Categories
Frequency of tooth brushing	< 3 times/day; ≥ 3 times/day
Use of dental floss	Does not use; Uses
Use of topic fluoride	No; Yes
Self-examination of mouth	No; Yes
Smoking	Yes; No
Consumes alcohol	Yes; No
Practices physical activities	Rarely/Never;Occasionally; Always/often.
Subjective conditions of oral health
Variables	Categories
Self-perception of oral health	Excellent/good; Fair; Poor/very poor
Self-perception of chewing	Excellent/good; Fair; Poor/very poor
Self-perception of teeth and/or gingival appearances	Excellent/good; Fair; Poor/very poor
Self-perception of speech	Excellent/good; Fair; Poor/very poor
Self-perception of relationship affected by oral health	Does not affect; Affects
Self-perception of need for dental treatment	Needs; Does not need
Toothache and or gingival pain in the last six months	Absent; Present

Periodontal condition						n		% (CI _95%)		Mean (S.E)
CPI
CPI=0 (with no periodontal change)						513		70.5 (61.8-78.0)		5.2 (0.1)
CPI > 0 (with periodontal change)						246		29.5 (22.0-38.1)
CPI-Categories
Healthy						513		70.5 (61.8-78.0)		5.2 (0.1)
Bleeding on probing						131		14,1 (8.8-21.8)		0.5 (0.1)
Dental calculus						105		14.0 (10.3-18.8)		0.3(0.1)
Shallow pocket						09		1.2 (0.6-2.4)		0.0 (0.0)
Deep pocket						01		0.1 (0.0-0.7)		0.0 (0.0)
Sextant excluded						04		0.1 (0.0-0.7)		0.0 (0.0)
Total						763		100.0
Number of sextants affected	Healthy		Bleeding		Calculus		Shallow pocket		Deep pocket
Number of sextants affected	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
None	40	04.9	591	81.2	648	85.4	750	98.8	758	99.9
1 sextant	24	03.0	67	08.1	53	07.7	4	00.5	1	00.1
2 sextants	19	01.8	35	03.9	17	01.9	2	00.3	-	-
3 sextants	33	03.6	19	01.9	18	01.8	3	00.4	-	-
4 sextants	48	05.5	21	02.0	5	00.6	-	-	-	-
5 sextants	82	10.7	10	01.3	7	01.3	-	-	-	-
6 sextants	513	70.5	16	01.6	11	01.3	-	-	-	-

Variables	Prevalence of	Crude analysis		Adjusted analysis
Variables	PC (%)	OR (CI_95%)	p-Value	OR (CI_95%)	p-Value
Demographic and socio-economic characteristics
Self-declared skin color					n.s
Black/Indian/Brown/Yellow	32.1	1.4 (1.0-1.9)	0.080
White	22.2	1.0
Typo of school
Does not study	29.3	2.0 (1.1-3.5)	0.017	1.9 (1.1-3.4)	0.031
Public	31.3	2.1 (1.3-3.6)	0.004	2.1 (1.2-3.6)	0.005
Private	19.5	1.0		1.0
Currently working					n.s
Yes	35.6	1.4 (1.0-2.0)	0.058
No	27.4	1.0
per capita income					n.s
Up to R$ 200,00	33.6	1.4 (1.0-1.9)	0.045
Over R$ 200,00	29.0	1.0
Housing					n.s
Rented/lent	39.2	1.4 (1.0-2.1)	0.052
Own	27.2	1.0
Number of people living in the house
>1 person	28.2	1.5 (1.0-2.2)	0.064		n.s
≤1 person	34.7	1.0
Use of dental service and behavior
Kind of service
Never went to the dentist	40,0	1,9 (1,1-3,6)	0,046	1,7 (1,1-3,3)	0,047
Public /philanthropic	31,7	1,9 (1,4-2,6)	0,000	1,7 (1,2-2,4)	0,002
Private / health insurance	24,9	1,0		1,0
Time since last visit dentista					n.s
Never went to the dentist	40,0	1,6 (0,8-2,9)	0,169
≥1 year	30,5	1,3 (1,0-1,8)	0,091
<1 year	27,2	1,0
Received oral hygiene Guidance					n.s
No	35,9	1,4 (1,0-2,1)	0,086
Yes	28,3	1,0
Frequency of dental brushing					n.s
<3 times/Day	33,1	1,3 (0,9-1,8)	0,167
≥3 times/Day	27,9	1,0
Perform self-examination of the mouth					n.s
No	28,2	0,7 (0,5-1,1)	0,091
Yes	34,2	1,0
Smoker
Yes	39,7	2,2 (1,2-4,1)	0,017	1,6 (1,2-2,3)	0,003
No	28,9	1,0		1,0
Consume alcoholic beverage
Yes	37,1	1,7 (1,1-2,4)	0,007	1,6 (1,1- 2,4)	0,016
No	27,6	1,0		1,0
Subjective Conditions of Oral Health
Self-perception of oral health
Too bad/bad	46,1	2,5 (1,2-5,5)	0,011	2,4 (1,1-5,2)	0,032
Regular	36,1	1,7 (1,2-2,4)	0,001	1,5 (1,1-2,1)	0,023
Excellent /good	25,1	1,0		1,0
Self-perception of chewing					n.s
Too bad/bad	45,9	1,8 (0,9-3,9)	0,116
Regular	34,0	1,3 (0,9-2,0)	0,141
Excellent /good	27,6	1,0
Self-perception of the appearance of teeth / gums					n.s
Too bad/bad	37,6	1,8 (1,1-3,2)	0,031
Regular	35,7	1,5 (1,1-2,2)	0,027
Excellent /good	25,3	1,0
Self-perception of relationship affected by oral health					n.s
Affects	40,9	1,9(1,1-3,1)	0,014
Does not affect	27,0	1,0
Pain in the teeth /gums in the last six months					n.s
Yes	84,5	1,4 (1,0-2,1)	0,074
No	26,9	1,0
Self-perception of the need for dental treatment
Yes	23,5	0,6 (0,4-1,0)	0,064		n.s
No	32,6	1,00

Faculdade São Leopoldo Mandic R. José Rocha Junqueira, 13, 13045-755 Campinas/SP Brasil, Tel.: (55 19) 3211-3689 - Campinas - SP - Brazil
E-mail: contato@revistargo.com.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Correspondência para / Correspondence to: MF SILVEIRA. E-mail: <ciaestatistica@yahoo.com.br>.