title: The relationship between neighborhood empowerment and dental caries experience: a multilevel study in adolescents and adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship of contextual social capital (neighborhood empowerment) and individual social capital (social support and social network) with dental caries experience in adolescents and adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A population-based multilevel study was conducted involving 573 subjects, 15-19 and 35-44 years of age, from 30 census tracts in three cities of Paraíba, Brazil. A two-stage cluster sampling was used considering census tracts and households as sampling units. Caries experience was assessed using the DMFT index (decayed, missing and filled teeth) and participants were divided into two groups according to the median of the DMFT index in low and high caries experience. Demographic, socioeconomic, behaviors, use of dental services and social capital measures were collected through interviews. Neighborhood empowerment was obtained from the mean scores of the residents in each census tract. Multilevel multivariate logistic regression was used to test the relationship between neighborhood empowerment and caries experience.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High caries experience was inversely associated with neighborhood empowerment (OR = 0.58; 95%CI 0.33-0.99). Individual social capital was not associated with caries experience. Other associated factors with caries experience were age (OR = 1.15; 95%CI 1.12-1.18) and being a female (OR = 1.72; 95%CI 1.08-2.73).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The association between neighborhood empowerment and caries experience suggests that the perception of features of the place of residence should be taken into account in actions of oral health promotion.
authors.affiliation: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bianca Marques
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Santiago
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Social Odontology, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Maria Gondim
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Valença
authors.affiliation: School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
authors.forename: Mario Vianna
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Vettore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult