Francine dos Santos Costa

Anxiety symptoms have a direct effect on oral health perception in young women

PurposeAssess the influence of anxiety symptoms on oral health related-quality of life in young women from a cohort study in Southern Brazil.MethodsA sample of 535 young mothers were analyzed. Interviews and psychological evaluations were carried out by trained psychologists. The Brazilian version of the Corah’s dental anxiety scale and the Beck anxiety inventory were used to evaluate dental anxiety and anxiety symptoms, respectively. The oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) was assessed by the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance instrument. Dental examinations were performed by trained dentists to assess oral health status (DMFT). The effect of anxiety symptoms on oral health-related quality of life was estimated using the parametric g-formula.ResultsThe prevalence of negative impact on OHRQoL was of 46.3 and 28% of the women presented anxiety symptoms. Unadjusted analysis showed that women with anxiety symptoms had 2.5 higher impact on OHRQoL (OR 2.55; CI 95% 1.72–3.79). The parametric g-formula revealed that anxiety had a direct effect on oral health perception (OR 1.16; CI 95% 1.04–1.30), not mediated by dental anxiety.ConclusionOral health-related quality of life is influenced by anxiety symptoms, regardless of dental anxiety.

The role of asthma in caries occurrence – meta-analysis and meta-regression

Abstract Objective: We aimed to conduct a systematic review of the literature regarding the association between asthma and caries, assess the effect of asthma on the occurrence of caries in primary and permanent dentitions, and determine factors that could affect the estimates of this association. Data source: We used the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and LILACS/BVS, for the literature review. Study selection: We included observational studies that investigated the association between asthma and dental caries, excluding studies with syndromic patients, literature reviews, case reports, and in vitro and in situ studies. A meta-analysis was performed to estimate a pooled effect, and meta-regression was conducted to determine study factors that could affect the estimates. Results: From 674 studies initially identified, 40 fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and 36 of these were used in the meta-analysis. Odds ratio (OR) for the pooled effect was 1.45 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.22–1.72; I2, 71.8%; p < 0.001) and 1.52 (95% CI: 1.34–1.73; I2, 83.1%; p < 0.001) for primary and permanent dentitions, respectively. In addition, a small proportion of the heterogeneity was attributed to included factors in the meta-regression (primary dentition, 10.7%; and permanent dentition, 3.1%). Conclusions: This study provides reliable and robust evidence that emphasizes the impact of asthma on the occurrence of dental caries in both, primary and permanent, dentitions. The findings provide useful data for recommending that dentists and physicians collaborate to establish the control for both diseases in a multidisciplinary manner.

Experience of Dental Caries and Use of Continuous Medication in Children with Neuropsychomotor Disorders

Objective: To identify the relation between the use of continuous medication by children with neuropsychomotor disorders and the development of the dental caries disease. Material and Methods: The data were obtained from medical and dental records of children, who were assisted in an extension project of the Dentistry School of the Federal University of Pelotas. Socio-economic variables, the disability diagnosis, the type and frequency of the continuous medication, and the dental caries experience registered in the dental record were collected. The data were evaluated by double typing, analyzed by descriptive statistics, and the associations were tested by the Qui-squared, Fisher exact, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The Stata Statistical Software, version 12.0, was utilized considering the level of significance of 5%. Results: 119 records were evaluated, and the results were distributed by age bracket due to the high age range. Undoubtedly, the cerebral palsy was the most prevalent (33.9%). From the total of the children, 68.8% were using continuous medication, and the majority (56%) uses medication there are more than 24 months. The anticonvulsants were the most used medications (33.8%), and 96.5% of the children used medication during the nocturnal period. Half of the utilized medications presented sucrose in its composition. Conclusion: A statistically significant association between the use of continuous medication, containing sucrose, and the dental caries experience were not observed, what suggests that other risk factors contribute to the disease installation.

Avaliação da percepção e da experiência dos cirurgiões-dentistas da rede municipal de Pelotas/RS no atendimento aos portadores de fissuras labiopalatais

Objetivo: investigar a percepcao e a experiencia dos cirurgioes-dentistas da rede municipal de saude de Pelotas no atendimento a portadores de fissuras labio-palatais. Metodos: participaram do censo 43 profissionais de Unidades Basicas de Saude do municipio de Pelotas - RS, os quais responderam a um questionario sobre atuacao profissional, experiencia no atendimento a pacientes portadores de fissura labiopalatal e conhecimento especifico sobre a malformacao. Resultados: constatou-se que 37,2% dos profissionais atenderam pacientes portadores de fissura e 67,4% fariam o tratamento odontologico adequado, porem 32,6% dos pesquisados os encaminhariam a profissionais especializados por falta de conhecimento no assunto. A maioria dos profissionais respondeu adequadamente as questoes de conhecimento especifico, mas 74,4% desconheciam o padrao alimentar cariogenico no primeiro ano de vida. Foi relatado que 60,5% dos profissionais conheciam algum centro de atencao multidisciplinar para reabilitacao de portadores de fissuras no Brasil, e 11,6% no Rio Grande do Sul. Conclusao: parcela importante dos profissionais envolvidos neste estudo (87,5%) teve experiencia no atendimento a pacientes com necessidades especiais, entre eles, pacientes portadores de fissuras labiopalatais. A malformacao congenita nao foi impedimento para a realizacao de procedimentos clinicos basicos, porem, constatou-se falta de informacao sobre o tema. Sugere-se que os servicos disponibilizem capacitacoes aos cirurgioes-dentistas da rede publica, tendo em vista que orientacoes aos pais sobre os cuidados com a higiene bucal na regiao da fissura, aconselhamento alimentar e informacoes sobre o processo de reabilitacao sao importantes na atencao primaria em saude.