Oral health technicians in Brazilian primary health care: potentials and constraints.

Different perspectives on the role of mid-level workers in health care might represent a constraint to health policies. This study aimed to investigate how different agents view the participation of oral health technicians in direct activities of oral healthcare with the goal of understanding the related symbolic dispositions. Theoretical assumptions related to inter-professional collaboration and conflicts in the field of healthcare were used for this analysis.

Accumulated knowledge and prevention practices in oral health.

This text begins by reflecting on health promotion and equity/ inequity. In health, inequity is understood as a political concept that has moral implications and that is committed to social justice. A discussion follows on some issues regarding the risk and prevention of diseases, still considered a hegemonic practice, and lack of experience in oral health-care, bearing in mind the concept of vulnerability.

Programmatic actions in oral health: coping with social inequities.

Inequities are health imbalances that are avoidable, unfair and unnecessary. Studies on health inequities address the need for emergency care related to oral-dental lesions from external causes, toothache or prevalence of oral lesions, taking into account the differences between individuals and/or populations in terms of risk conditions to acquiring disease or access to health services. Inequities may be caused by the health service itself, because diseases affect socially deprived individuals more frequently and severely, especially because of multimorbidity.

[Spatial risk and factors associated with edentulism among elderly persons in Southeast Brazil].

This study aimed to identify factors associated with edentulism and spatial risk of tooth loss in the elderly. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a random sample (n = 372) of individuals 60 years and older in Botucatu, São Paulo State, Southeast Brazil, in 2005. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated by Poisson regression with robust variance.

[Epidemiologic aspects of dental fluorosis in Brazil: research in the period 1993-2006].

The epidemiology of dental fluorosis derives from surveys carried out in recent years, as a result of a better comprehension of metabolic aspects of fluoride in the human organism and oral health concerns. This reflection aims at presenting studies carried out on fluorosis between 1993 and 2006. The period of 1993-2004 delimits the interval between the 2nd and the 3rd National Conferences on Oral Health, and, in the period of 2005-2006, the search of primary data presented in scientific meetings confirmed the findings in the literature, showing that the Brazilian scientific agenda was not substantially influenced by the discussions engaged during the 3rd National Conference on Oral Health.

Oral health conditions among the elderly in Southeastern São Paulo State.

This study aimed to asses oral health conditions in a population aged 60 years and over living in Botucatu, Southeastern Brazil. A cross-sectional population-based study was carried out using a random sample (N=372) of the urban population aged 60 years and over from the city of Botucatu, in 2005. World Health Organization criteria and codes for oral health epidemiological surveys were used.

[Tooth loss and the image of the dentist in a group of senior citizens].

This study assesses perceptions, memories and beliefs about tooth loss in a group of Japanese-Brazilian senior citizens, selecting forty individuals through a random sampling process, with inclusion criteria related to their background (Issei/Nissei) and oral status (edentulous/non-edentulous), divided into four groups, each with ten subjects. Home interviews were conducted with individuals complying with the inclusion/exclusion criteria established for each group. Using the construction of the Collective Subject Discourse as a methodological strategy, the analysis categories were defined: cause of tooth loss, time of tooth loss and the role of the dentist.

[The relation between space and collective oral health: for a georeferenced epidemiology].

The influence of the environment on health is an ancient human concern. From the Hippocratic texts to today, the concept of space permitted and still permits different representations and forms of perception. Overcoming the natural conception of space as only an inert and passive environment, the idea of a socially constructed geographic space, both as a receiver of social processes as much as being its own activator in these processes, becomes ever more relevant in the comprehension of phenomena involved in the health-disease process.

[Prevalence and characteristics associated with metabolic syndrome in Japanese-Brazilians with and without periodontal disease].

This cross-sectional study focused on the relationship between periodontal disease and metabolic syndrome. Data were analyzed from 1,315 Japanese-Brazilians ranging from 30 to 92 years of age, submitted to physical, laboratory, and dental exams. Means and percentages were used in the data description and logistic regression pattern in the analysis of associations among variables.

[Influence of acculturation on self-perceived oral health among Japanese-Brazilian elderly].

Utilizing a qualitative methodology, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of acculturation on the elderly population and self-perception of their oral health. The target population included 40 individuals, divided into two groups: first- and second-generation Japanese immigrants. Through recorded interviews, acculturation level was assessed for each group, as was its influence on attention to oral health and self-evaluation of oral health status and time elapsed since the last dental appointment.

Dental fluorosis in Brazil: a systematic review from 1993 to 2004.

The current article proposes a reflection on several aspect pertaining to dental fluorosis in Brazil, based on a systematic review of epidemiological surveys. The authors assess the prevalence and degrees of severity found in different studies and show that in methodological terms, there is a need for progress in procedures for population-based studies on fluorosis. Despite the different data collection approaches, there is some consensus among the different studies as to the limited severity of fluorosis in Brazil, as well as its association with the independent variables age and socioeconomic status.

[Lead poisoning and child health: integrated efforts to combat this problem].

An epidemiological survey was carried out by technicians of the State Health Secretary and the Municipal Health Secretary of Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil, due to excessive atmospheric lead emissions caused by a battery manufacturer. This survey included 853 children from 0 to 12 years old, in a 1,000-meter area from the polluting source, in Bauru (2002). The blood lead levels of children in the exposed group were higher than those in the control group (p < 0.

[Oral health of Brazilian elderly: a systematic review of epidemiologic status and dental care access].

Population aging and declining birth rate have significantly altered the Brazilian age structure pyramid. In parallel with demographic transition, epidemiological transition is altering morbidity-mortality profiles, without adequate health support for the elderly population group. By searching databases, the objective of this study was a systemic literature review from 1986 to 2004 concerning the most prevalent oral problems experienced by elderly Brazilians, aimed at revealing the main obstacles for accessing health services.

Oral health of building construction workers: an epidemiological approach.

This cross-sectional study aimed at evaluating the oral health conditions of building construction workers from a city in the mid-west region of São Paulo, Brazil. This study involved 219 male subjects, aged 17 to 72. The definition of a random sample utilized the functional number of each worker as a criterion to the raffle, which took into account all 450 subjects registered in the Working Accidents Prevention Program.

[Oral health in the Brazilian Family Health Program: from the university to training centers].

This study focuses on dentistry professors' and students' concepts concerning the dentist's role in the Family Health Program (FHP) and proposes a contribution to training at the Centers for Continuing Education. A qualitative research method was use to construct a collective subject's discourse, based on taped interviews. The study covered three institutions of higher education in dentistry, located in the municipalities of Lins and Bauru, São Paulo State, Brazil, with two focus groups, consisting of faculty and students, respectively.

[Community health agent program: perception by patients and health service workers].

Two basic premises of Brazil's Community Health Agents Program (PACS) are to value the family and community to which the program belongs and to encourage their participation in health promotion and disease prevention. This study focused on the work developed by PACS in Bauru, São Paulo State, as perceived by the community health agents and the families served by them. As the study's point of departure, 22 community health agents and 22 representatives of families were interviewed, randomly selected according to residential micro-areas.

[Relation between oral health conditions and diabetes mellitus in a japanese population from Bauru-SP-Brazil].

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the oral health condition in a Japanese population aged 40 to 79, in Bauru, Brazil as well as its association with the occurrence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance. It involved 530 subjects, from both sexes. All persons of first generation (Issei) and a random sample of one third of second generation (Nisei) were submitted to a home interview.

[Integrated approach to the oral health of drug-addicted undergoing rehabilitation].

Considering the current context of increasing and early utilization of licit or illicit drugs (habit-forming substances), the aim of this study was to evaluate the oral health conditions of 102 males from the Esquadrão da Vida rehabilitation center, in Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. The evaluation was carried out by means of the assessment of caries experience (DMFT), dental plaque (PHP), gingival index and salivary flow. This study also aimed at instituting an educational-preventive program and evaluating its efficacy.