title: [Influence of social class on clinical reasons for tooth loss].
abstract: In order to determine the influence of social class on clinical reasons for tooth loss in Maceió, the Alagoas State capital in Northeast Brazil, a cross-sectional study was conducted of 466 adults whose ages ranged from 18 to 76 years. Socioeconomic and demographic data were collected through a questionnaire. Clinical examinations determined the reason for extracting teeth, recording the DMF-T of all patients, who were divided into social classes on the basis of the data gathered from the questionnaire: 54.1% of the subjects were female with a mean age of 33.73 +/- 13.68 years; 369 (79.2%) of them had not completed their secondary education and 385 (82.6%) had family incomes no more than four times the official minimum wage (mean 3.4 +/- 5.4). The main reason for the loss of permanent teeth was caries. The patients presented an average of 16.59 +/- 6.96 decayed, lost or filled teeth and most of them (219 - 47%) had a DMF-T of 11 to 20 teeth. A statistically significant difference was noted between reasons for tooth loss and social class (P<0.001), leading to the conclusion that social class significantly influenced clinical reasons for tooth loss.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Prótese e Cirurgia Buco Facial, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE. renata.cimoes@globo.com
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cimões
authors.forename: Arnaldo de França
authors.initials: Ade F
authors.lastname: Caldas Júnior
authors.forename: Eliane Helena Alvim de
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Estela Santos
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Gusmão
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D055815:Young Adult