Abstract This study evaluated the association between sense of coherence (SoC) and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among conscripts of the Brazilian Army, in two cities of southern Brazil. A cross-sectional study included all 18-19-year-old adolescents who joined the Brazilian Army as draftees for mandatory military service in the cities of Itaqui, RS, and Santiago, RS (n = 505). Data collection was conducted from 2019 to 2021, and included the application of questionnaires and a clinical oral examination to record gingivitis, malocclusion, and dental caries. OHRQoL was collected through the Brazilian short version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), composed of 14 questions. The adolescents’ SoC was assessed using the validated Brazilian version of the SOC-13 scale. The primary outcome of this study was OHRQoL, modeled as a discrete variable (OHIP-14 scores). The main predictor variable was SoC, categorized as low, moderate, or high. The association between predictor variables and OHRQoL was assessed by Poisson regression models using a hierarchical approach. Unadjusted and adjusted rate ratios (RR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. All the analyses were performed using STATA software version 14.2. Adolescents with a moderate and high SoC had 27% (RR = 0.73, 95%CI = 0.64–0.84) and 51% (RR = 0.49, 95%CI = 0.41–0.58) lower mean OHIP-14 scores, respectively, than those with a low SoC score, after the inclusion of behavioral and clinical variables. This study showed a significant association between SoC and OHRQoL among 18–19-year-old southern Brazilian adolescents. Strengthening the SoC as a psychosocial resource may improve the well-being and OHRQoL of adolescents.

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of erosive tooth wear (ETW) among 15–19-year-old South Brazilian adolescents, regarding prevalence, extent, severity, intraoral distribution, and sociodemographic risk indicators. A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in Santa Maria, southern Brazil, and included a representative sample of 15–19-year-old adolescents. Data collection included the application of a questionnaire and a clinical examination. A questionnaire was sent to the parents/legal guardians of the selected students, containing questions on demographic information, socioeconomic characteristics, and living conditions. After tooth cleaning and drying, all erupted permanent teeth were clinically assessed by two calibrated examiners, and classified according to the Basic Erosive Wear Examination (BEWE). The association between explanatory variables and the outcomes (ETW prevalence and extent) was assessed using Poisson regression models (both unadjusted and adjusted). A total of 1,197 adolescents were included in the study (participation rate of 72.3%). The overall prevalence of ETW was 57%. Severe ETW affected 16% of the sample. Overall, this adolescent population presented 13.3 affected surfaces, and 8.34 affected teeth. In the risk assessment analysis, gender, skin color, socioeconomic status, and family income were significantly associated with ETW. Boys, white adolescents, and those with higher socioeconomic status were more affected by ETW. This population-based cross-sectional study revealed that the prevalence of ETW was high, and that it was associated with sociodemographic variables in this South Brazilian population of adolescents.

The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of routine use of dental prophylaxis prior to visual inspection, in order to diagnose caries, by dentists with different lapses of time after graduating time. One hundred and fifty one Brazilian dentists were interviewed in 3 Brazilian cities to determine if they usually remove dental plaque prior to visual inspection for caries diagnosis. The dentists were stratified according to year of graduation. The association between the lapse of time after graduating and the practice of routinely removing dental plaque before clinical examination was tested using the chi-square test with a significance level of 5%. Only 28.5% of the dentists reported that they usually remove dental plaque prior to clinical examination. The dentists who graduated in the last 15 years presented the lowest percentages of plaque removal prior to clinical examination (15.1%), whereas the more experienced dentists reported that they perform prophylaxis more frequently. Of the professionals who graduated from 1960-1975, 23.9% reported that they performed dental plaque removal prior to diagnosis, whereas the figure for those graduating from 1976-1990 was 46.2%. Most of the dentists interviewed reported that they did not remove dental plaque prior to performing visual diagnosis of caries.