Paternal Physical Punishment and Neglect: Does It Increase the Odds of Toothache in Children and Adolescents?

Background: Physical punishment by caregivers affects approximately 60% of children between the ages of 2 and 14 worldwide.

Aim: To evaluate the association between physical punishment and paternal neglect of children and adolescents and toothache.

Design: This cross-sectional study included all schoolchildren between the ages of 9 and 19 from a small Brazilian town in 2016 (n = 329).

Effect of BMI on Caries Assessed by Structural Equation Modelling in an Adult Brazilian Population.

Objectives: Compare different behavioural, environmental and socioeconomic factors for caries with transversal data to decompose the direct and indirect effects of body mass index (BMI) in relation to coronal and root caries.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used a representative sample of 1002 individuals aged ≥ 35 years living in Porto Alegre. Questionnaires recorded age, sex, educational level, tooth brushing frequency and access to dental services.

Big Data in Epidemiology: Brave New World?

Epidemiology is experiencing a significant shift toward the utilization of big data for health monitoring and decision-making. This article discusses the recent example of the World Health Organization (WHO) global oral health status report and regional summaries, which faced criticisms due to its reliance on big data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. We address the arguments for and against the use of big data in epidemiology and provide an assessment of the value and limitations of big data epidemiology.

Oral impact of dental prosthesis use in different patterns of tooth loss.

Statement Of Problem: Tooth loss is a critical indicator of oral health and negatively impacts oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) depending on the number and location of the missing teeth. Reports of oral rehabilitation have been conflicting depending on the tooth loss pattern and prostheses provided.

Purpose: The purpose of this population-based study was to evaluate the association between the use of different dental prostheses according to different tooth loss patterns and OHRQoL.

Brazilian primary dental care in a universal health system: Challenges for training and practice.

Objectives: To report the challenges for training and practice for the Brazilian primary dental care in a universal health system.

Methods: Health, education and protection rights against poverty are guaranteed by the 1988 Brazilian Constitution and public health in Brazil is provided by the Unified Health System (SUS), one of the largest public health systems in the world. According to SUS, every Brazilian citizen has the right to free primary oral health care as secondary and tertiary care, offering a unique opportunity to integrate oral care within general health care.

Life course social mobility, race and tooth loss in adulthood: The role of dental health services.

Objectives: To evaluate the extent to which dental care factors in adulthood modify and, at the same time, mediate the association between race/ethnicity and social mobility from childhood to adulthood with two oral health outcomes in adults.

Methods: In 2012, 1222 individuals 20-59 years old participated in the second wave of the Epi-Floripa Study in Florianopolis, Brazil. Exposures included social mobility based on adulthood and childhood events, dental care in previous years, type of dental care coverage, reason for dental visits and race.

Associations between psychological stress, discrimination, and oral health-related quality of life: the buffering effects of social support networks.

Stress and discrimination negatively affect quality of life, but social support may buffer their effects. This study aims: (1) to examine the associations between psychological stress, discrimination, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL); and (2) to assess whether social support, stress and discrimination interact to modify their associations with OHRQoL. We used cross-sectional household-based data from a study including 396 individuals aged 14 years and over from families registered for government social benefits in a city in Southern Brazil.

Racial inequality in complete dental prosthesis delivered: can public services reduce inequities?

Objectives: To investigate the association between access and delivery of complete dental prosthesis according to the proportion of the black population in Brazilian municipalities and to oral health policies.

Materials And Methods: Ecological data from 2017 to 2021 relating to the delivery of complete dentures stratified by race was collected in all Brazilian cities. We calculated a racial inequality indicator by subtracting the percentage of the black population from the percentage of complete dental prostheses that were delivered to blacks in each municipality.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on completed treatments and referrals during urgent dental visits.

This ecological study assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on completed treatments (CTs) and referrals during urgent dental visits to primary health care units in Brazil, and their associations with socioeconomic, geodemographic, and pandemic index factors in Brazilian municipalities. The difference in rates of procedures 12 months before and during the pandemic was calculated. Data were extracted at baseline from health information systems of all municipalities that provided urgent dental care (n = 5,229 out of 5,570).

Research on racial/ethnic inequities in oral health over the past 80 years: The role of racism.

Aim: This study aims to (1) describe trends in explanations provided for racial/ethnic inequities in dental caries and periodontitis, and (2) explore the patterns of relatedness among explanations for these inequities.

Materials And Methods: Highly cited publications based on studies indexed in the Scopus database were retrieved and assessed for eligibility. Explanations for racial/ethnic inequities were classified into eight different, but interrelated domains.

[Coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer Program and factors associated with the performance of dental procedures in Brazil, from 2007 to 2011: an ecological study].

In Brazil, there has been an expansion of the coverage of dental services in primary health care (PHC), and the focus of the services has changed to include more efforts in prevention and diagnosis. However, little is known about the influence of the coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer program on the use of dental services. Our study evaluates the association between municipal coverage of the Brazilian Income Transfer Program and the use of dental services.

Association between socioeconomic contextual factor, dental care service availability, and prevalence of periodontitis in Brazil: a multilevel analysis.

This study aimed to examine the effect of dental care services on periodontitis cases in Brazilian municipalities. The sample comprised 3,426 individuals aged 35-44 years. Moderate to severe periodontitis with clinical attachment loss and probing depth was the dependent variable, both > 3mm.

A qualitative analysis of denture wearing experience affecting the quality of life of older adults.

Objective: To explore how denture-related experiences affect older adults' quality of life using a qualitative assessment of the Oral Health Impact Profile for Edentulous individuals (OHIP-Edent).

Materials And Methods: Twenty elderly individuals were interviewed before and 3 months after delivering new complete dentures, using an open-ended interview guide based on the OHIP-Edent. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed.

Challenges in operationalizing conceptual models in aetiological research.

Conceptual or theoretical models are crucial in developing causal hypotheses and interpreting study findings, but they have been underused and misused in aetiological research, particularly in dentistry and oral epidemiology. Good models should incorporate updated evidence and clarify knowledge gaps to derive logical hypotheses. Developing models and deriving testable hypotheses in operational models can be challenging, as seen in the four examples referred to in this commentary.

Conceptualizing inequities and oppression in oral health research.

Major sociohistorical processes have profound effects on oral health, with impacts experienced through structural oppression manifested in policies and practices across the lifespan. Structural oppression drives oral health inequities and impacts population-level oral health. In this global perspective paper, we challenge old assumptions about oral health inequities, address misleading conceptualizations in their description and operation and reframe oral health through the lens of intersecting systems of oppression.

Assessment of the contextual effects on the prevalence of periodontitis: a systematic review.

This study reviews the influence of contextual factors on periodontitis based on a systematic search of studies recorded in the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases. Periodontitis was assessed by clinical attachment loss and probing depth for studies with data on the socioeconomic status (SES) of a specific area (area-level SES) or dental care service (service-level) in a catchment area among individuals aged 18 and over. Two independent reviewers performed study selection, data extraction, and assessment of methodological quality.

[What aspects influence the prioritization of Primary Health Care by municipal managers in Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil?].

Primary Health Care (PHC) is capable of achieving broad coverage and effectiveness. This study evaluated the factors associated with the prioritization that municipal health managers in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) give to PHC. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out between August 2017 and May 2019 using an online FormSUS questionnaire, consisting of 44 questions divided into 4 blocks, sent to 497 municipal health managers.

Gender inequities in dental research publications: Findings from 20 years.

Background: The first steps towards gender equity in science are measuring the magnitude of inequity and increasing awareness of the problem.

Objectives: To describe trends in gender disparities in first and last authorship in the most cited dental publications and general dental literature over a 20-year period.

Methods: Articles and bibliometric data were retrieved from the Scopus database for the period 1996 to 2015.

Oral conditions associated with oral health related quality of life: A population-based cross-sectional study in Brazil.

Aim: To investigate the association between 11 oral conditions and oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional study used a multistage sampling strategy to draw a representative sample of adults aged ≥35 years living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. OHRQoL was assessed using OHIP-14.

Impact of dentists and equipment in the performing dental imaging examinations: a longitudinal analysis.

In this study, we aimed to identify factors associated with performing dental imaging examinations in public health services. Brazilian data at the municipal level (n = 5,564) in two time periods, P0 (2005-2007) and P1 (2014-2016), were collated from health information systems. The increase in the municipal rates of intraoral and extraoral radiographic imaging procedures was the outcome.

Association between cash transfer programs and oral health-A scoping review.

Objectives: The aims of this scoping review are to assess the literature investigating the association between cash transfer programs and oral health; and to identify the theoretical frameworks applied to guide this literature.

Methods: A search strategy to identify studies published until December 2020 was applied to a range of databases. Observational and interventional studies that had cash transfer programs as exposure/intervention and oral health as outcome were considered.

Urgent dental care in the Brazilian public health system: learning lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for future situations.

This ecological study described the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and socioeconomic development on the use and profile of urgent dental care (UDC). UDC rates per 100,000 inhabitants before (from March to June 2019) and during (from March to June 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic in 4,062 Brazilian municipalities were compared. Data were collected from official sources.

Residual dentition, prosthesis type and oral health-related quality of life in Uruguayan adults.

Objectives: To investigate the association between different types of dental prostheses (and residual dentition) and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Methods: A population-based study with a representative sample of adults and older adults in Uruguay (2010-2011). The dependent variable was the score on the oral impact on daily performance (OIDP), and the main predictor was the pattern of tooth loss and prosthesis use.