Thaliny Batista Sarmento de Oliveira

Dental Caries Experience and Use of Dental Services among Brazilian Prisoners

This ross-sectional study involving 127 male prisoners evaluates the use of dental services and dental caries among Brazilian inmates. Data were collected by interview and clinical examination. Sociodemographic and sentencing information as well as use of dental services, self-reported dental morbidity, self-perception, and oral health impacts were investigated. The mean DMFT index value was 19.72. Of the components, the decayed component showed the highest mean value (11.06 ± 5.37). Statistically significant association was found between DMFTs with values from 22 to 32 and oral health satisfaction (p = 0.002), difficulty speaking (p = 0.024), shame of talking (p = 0.004) and smiling (p < 0.001). Regarding the use of dental services, 80% had their last dental appointment less than one year ago, with most visits occurring in prison (80%), with restorative treatment (32%), followed by dental pain (26.4%), being the main reasons for such appointments. Most prisoners used dental services provided by the prison. Although restorative treatment has been the main reason for the use of dental services, “decayed” and “missing” components contributed to the high mean DMFT index.

Locked mouths: Tooth loss in a women's prison in northeastern Brazil.

Background. Prisoners, in general, exhibit unsatisfactory oral conditions, especially with regard to the large number of missing teeth and with untreated caries. The aim of this study was to assess tooth loss, use of and need for prosthetic rehabilitation, and use of dental services among inmates. A cross-sectional study involving 65 inmates was developed at the Regional Womens Prison of Campina Grande, Brazil. Data regarding sociodemographic and sentencing profile, use of dental services, dental morbidity, and self-perceived oral health impacts were investigated. Chi-square, Pearson, and Kruskal-Wallis (P < 0.05) statistical tests were used. The mean tooth loss was 11.3 teeth. Significant association between tooth loss and oral health satisfaction (P = 0.049), self-perceived need for dental prosthesis (P < 0.001), uncomfortable teeth brushing (P = 0.005), difficult speaking (P = 0.002), and difficulty in performing routine tasks (P = 0.025) was observed. It was observed that 29.2% of inmates were using some type of prosthesis, all deemed unsuitable for use, and 78.5% of inmates needed prosthetic rehabilitation. The oral health condition of the population studied was found to be poor, and prisoners showed significant tooth loss and need for dentures, with the aggravation of having tooth extraction as the major reason for seeking dental care.

Head and Maxillofacial Injuries in Child and Adolescent Victims of Automotive Accidents

Background. Victims of motor vehicle accidents may suffer multiple lesions, including maxillofacial injuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with head, facial, and maxillofacial injuries in child and adolescent victims of automobile accidents. A cross-sectional study was carried out with analysis of forensic medical reports from the Legal Medical Institute of Campina Grande, Brazil, between January 2008 and December 2011. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was conducted using the chi-square test (α = 0.05). From 1613 medical reports analyzed, the sample is composed 232 (14.4%) reports referring to child and adolescent victims of automobile accidents aged 0–19 years of both sexes. Victims were mostly adolescents aged from 15 to 19 years (64.2%), males (73.7%), and motorcyclists (51.3%). More than half of the victims had single lesions (54.3%) located in the head (20.7%) and face (21.6%). Head injuries occurred more frequently in children aged 0–4 years (53.8%, PR = 5.065, 95% CI = 1.617–5.870) and pedestrians (30.4%, PR = 2.039, 95% CI = 1.024–4.061), while facial and maxillofacial injuries occurred in higher proportion among females (31.1%, PR = 0.489, 95% CI = 0.251–0.954). Our findings suggest that accidents involving motorcyclists are the most prevalent, affecting male adolescents aged from 15 to 19 years, resulting in a high frequency of injuries in the head and face regions.

Unnatural Deaths in Brazilian Children and Adolescents

Accidents and violence are considered an important public health problem for being the main cause of mortality among children and adolescents. Assuming the hypothesis that the deaths predominantly affect men, victims of traffic accidents, the aim of this study was to assess unnatural deaths in Brazilian children and adolescents in a city in northeastern Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out with analysis of 584 forensic medical reports from the Legal Medicine Institute of Campina Grande, Brazil, between January 2008 and December 2011. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was conducted using the chi-square test (a = 0.05). Victims were mostly males (82.4 %) and adolescents aged from 15 to 19 years (70.0 %). The main causes of unnatural deaths were aggressions (39.2 %), followed by traffic accidents (32.7 %). Significant associations between etiology and age group were observed (p<0.001), indicating high percentages of deaths due to aggressions (34.9 %) and traffic accidents (22.94 %) within the age group 15-19 years, etiology and gender of the victim (p<0.001) and type of traffic accident and victim’s age (p < 0.001). With regard to traffic accidents, there were more records of accidents involving motorcyclists (46.7 %), followed by vehicle occupants (29.8 %) and pedestrians (15.7%). Our hypothesis was confirmed, and the aggressions and traffic accidents were the most common causes of unnatural deaths, primarily affecting males aged from 15 to 19 years. Most deaths from traffic accidents involved motorcycle accidents.

Head and Face Injuries in Automobile Accidents and Associated Factors in a city in Northeastern Brazil

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence of head and face injuries and associated factors among victims of automobile accidents in a trauma center. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was developed through the analysis of 9,734 medical records of children and adults hospitalized due to external causes in the Regional Hospital of Emergency and Trauma at Campina Grande, Brazil. Data were analyzed with the SPSS software version 15, also using the Pearson’s chi-square test. The significance level adopted was 5 %. Results: Cases of automobile accidents accounted for 25.9% (n = 463) of hospitalizations due to external causes, and 83.8 % of victims were male and 16.2 % were female, representing a sex ratio of 5.1:1. As for age group, most had between 20 and 29 years (38.1%) and with respect to the day of the week, 40.8 % of incidents occurred over the weekend. The occurrence of injury was greater on the face (17.4%) than on the head (7.8%) and most victims had a single injury (58.5%). The existence of bone fractures was observed in 76.9 % of victims and 14.7 % had functional impairment. There was association between variables age (p < 0.001), sex (p < 0.001), day of the week (p < 0.001), presence of bone fractures (p < 0.001) and functional impairment (p = 0.002) with the occurrence of automobile accidents. Conclusion: The most automobile accidents occur on weekends and affect young male individuals, with frequent presence of fractures among victims. The occurrence of injury was greater on the face than on the head. Factors such as age, sex, presence of bone fractures and functional impairment was associated with automobile accidents.

Maxillofacial injuries among Brazilian children and adolescents victims of traffic accidents

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of morbidity due to traffic accidents in children and adolescents and its relationship with maxillofacial injuries in the city of Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed 533 forensic reports of individuals aged 0-19 years, victims of external causes in Campina Grande, Brazil, in 2013. Data were collected through a form containing variables sex, age, day of week, time, type of traffic accident, injured body region, presence of fractures, maxillofacial and oral cavity injuries. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Prevalence ratios and confidence intervals at 95% were estimated with the chi-square test. RESULTS: There was predominance of males (75.0%) aged 15-19 years (65.0%), with association between sex and occurrence of traffic accidents (p <0.001). The afternoon shift recorded 36.7% of cases of accidents involving motorcyclists (55.0%). In 25.0% of cases, there were injuries on the head and 26.7% on the face. Head and face injuries were observed in 10.0% of patients, while maxillofacial and oral cavity injuries were present in 21.7% and 6.7%, respectively. There was an association between occurrence of accident and face injuries (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Traffic accidents affect mostly young male individuals, causing multiple injuries in different body areas, including maxillofacial and oral cavity injuries.