The association between individual and contextual factors and functional dentition status among adults in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil: a multilevel study

Functional dentition plays an important role in maintaining masticatory function, which is closely related to the number of teeth present in the mouth. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between individual and contextual factors and functional dentition (defined as the pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Annie Pozeczek Koltermann, Jessye Melgarejo do Amaral Giordani, Marcos Pascoal Pattussi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz 2011-01-01
Series:Cadernos de Saúde Pública
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Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2011000100018&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:Functional dentition plays an important role in maintaining masticatory function, which is closely related to the number of teeth present in the mouth. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between individual and contextual factors and functional dentition (defined as the presence of at least 20 teeth) in Brazilian adults. This was a multilevel cross-sectional population-based study with a two-level structure and a total sample of 10,407 adults from 84 municipalities (counties). The exposures at both levels were demographic, socioeconomic, and oral health treatment-related. Multivariate analyses showed that higher prevalence rates of functional dentition were associated (p < 0.01) with municipalities having higher mean income and fluoridated water supply and with individuals living in urban areas, younger adults, males, those with more schooling and higher income, those that reported having visited the dentist in the previous 12 months, and those with access to information on prevention. The findings suggest that research on tooth loss and functional dentition should take different socioeconomic factors into account.
ISSN:1678-4464