“Determinants of oral hygiene in children aged 6 to 9 years in a socially vulnerable area of Distrito Federal”
Social Determinants of Health; Toothbrushing; Dental Plaque; Child.
“The aim of this analytical observational cross-sectional study was to investigate the determinants of oral hygiene in schoolchildren aged 6 to 9 years old in two socioeconomically vulnerable areas of the Federal District. As a baseline for a research on the implementation of long-term interventions to improve the quality of life of children. Two questionnaires were applied to the parents, one referring to habits, mental and physical health, and the impact of health on routine household chores and the other regarding demographic information and socioeconomic conditions of the family. To evaluate body weight, anthropometric measurements were used. Data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics (from univariate and multivariate frequency tables), chi-square test and Poisson regression model. All analyzes were performed considering the significance level of 5%. Of the 474 children responding to the questionnaires, 36.1% were 8 years old, 53.8% were boys, 85.2% had a per capita income of less than one minimum wage, 53.4% of the mothers had completed high school and 78.3 % of children were underweight. 79.7% of the children brushed their teeth twice a day or more and 78.1% of the children had visible biofilm. Per capita income (p=0.031) and visible biofilm (p=0.008) were statistically different when associated with brushing frequency. The other determinants did not show statistical difference, despite the univariate and multivariate analysis showing that older children, boys, mothers with less education and underweight children tend to brush their teeth less frequently. It is concluded that for this population sample, the determinant per capita income influences the frequency of brushing and that the frequency of brushing influences the visible biofilm.”