title: Social determinants of health and dental caries in Brazil: a systematic review of the literature between 1999 and 2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review epidemiological studies conducted in Brazil that investigated the distribution of dental caries according to socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The systematic review included articles published between 1999 and 2010 available in six bibliographic sources, without any other restriction. We analyzed the bibliometric and methodological characteristics of the studies, and the direction and statistical significance of associations tested.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1,128 references identified, 67 were incorporated into this study. There was a higher percentage of publications in the last two years and most of the studies were conducted in the South and Southeast of the country with a young population. The cross-sectional design, using a complex sampling procedure, was the most commonly adopted. The DMFT and dmft indexes were the most commonly used to measure dental caries, while sex/gender, income, education, race/skin color and type of school were the most common socioeconomic exposures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most studies identified a high rates of dental caries among the poorest, least educated, black and brown and female individuals. A more detailed methodological and theoretically sound study of the relationship between dental caries and socioeconomic conditions is needed.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antonio Fernando
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Boing
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Luiz
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karen Glazer
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Leopoldo Ferreira
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D013997:Time Factors