title: Dental pain, socioeconomic status, and dental caries in young male adults from southern Brazil.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess dental pain prevalence and its association with dental caries and socioeconomic status in 18-year-old males from Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a random sample (n = 414) selected from the Brazilian Army conscription list in 2003. Dental pain during the 12 months prior to the interview was recorded as the outcome. Socioeconomic data were obtained through a questionnaire. Dental caries experience was registered according to the DMFT Index. Analyses included simple and multiple non-conditional logistic regression following a hierarchical approach. Response rate was 95.6%. High rates of inter-examiner agreement were achieved (kappa > 0.83). Dental pain prevalence was 21.2% (95%CI: 17.3-25.1). After adjustment, individuals with one or more untreated caries were 3.2 times more likely (95%CI: 1.7-5.8) to have dental pain compared to caries-free subjects. Conscripts with low family income were 1.8 times more likely (95%CI: 1.0-3.3) to have dental pain than those with higher income.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Luiz Dornelles
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.forename: Lincon Hideo
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014098:Toothache / Q000453:epidemiology*