title: Oral health studies in the 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort: methodology and principal results at 15 and 24 years of age.
abstract: The aim of this study was to describe the methodology and results of oral health studies nested in a birth cohort in Pelotas, Southern Brazil. For the oral health studies a sub-sample (n = 900) was selected from the cohort and dental examinations and interviews were performed at ages 15 (n = 888) and 24 years (n = 720; 81.1%). Data collection included dental outcomes, dental care, oral health behaviors, and use of dental services. Mean DMF-T varied from 5.1 (SD = 3.8) to 5.6 (SD = 4.1) in the study period. The proportion of individuals with at least one filled tooth increased from 51.9% to more than 70%. Individuals who had always been poor used dental services less and had fewer healthy teeth on average than those who had never been poor. Individuals with decreasing or increasing family income trajectories showed intermediate values. An increase was seen in the number of healthy teeth from age 15 to 24 only among those who had never been poor. A history of at least one experience with poverty had a negative impact on oral health in adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brasil. karengp@ccs.ufsc.br
authors.forename: Karen Glazer
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.forename: Flavio Fernando
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Demarco
authors.forename: Sandra Beatriz Chaves
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Tarquínio
authors.forename: Bernardo L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Horta
authors.forename: Denise P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Gigante
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil; D004245:DMF Index; D003752:Dental Health Services; D003753:Dental Health Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014076:Tooth Diseases; D055815:Young Adult