Senso de coerência: relação com a saúde bucal de crianças na primeira infância atendidas em instituição de ensino superior

Abstract

The objective of the study was to test the association between quality of life related to oral health (QHRSB) and sense of coherence (SOC), demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical variables in children attended at a Higher Education Institution. This retrospective cross-sectional study included 50 medical records of children aged between six and 54 months, assisted in a Dentistry ExtensionProject for Babies at a Higher Education Institution in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The medical records contained validated questionnaires addressing QHRSB and SOC that were answered by the children's parents/caregivers. Demographic information (gender and age), socioeconomic (education of the head of the family andeconomic class [ABEP, 2018]), behavioral information (finger sucking, pacifier sucking, use of night bottle, consumption of sugar and breastfeeding) and intraoral physical examination data (dental caries experience [dmft index], dental trauma and anterior open bite). Statistical analysis included Chi-square, Fisher's Exact and Poisson Regression analysis (p < 0.05). Parents/guardians of children without dental caries experience had a 3.012 times higher prevalence of perceiving a low impact of the child's oral health on the family's quality of life compared to parents/guardians of children with dental caries experience (PR = 3.012; CI = 1.469- 9.803). SOC showed no significant response with QHRSB in this study. It is concluded that the factor associated with a negative impact on the QHRSB of the family, according to the perception of the parents/guardians of the evaluated children in early childhood, was their children's experience of dental caries.