School performance and oral health conditions: analysis of the impact mediated by socio-economic factors.
BACKGROUND
Oral problems can cause strong impact on functional, emotional, and social aspects of children and adolescents, as well as changes in school performance.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the associations of subjective perceptions of parents, socio-economic factors, and oral clinical conditions of children with their school performance.


METHODS
A case-control design was used with a sample of 1411 schoolchildren aged 8-10 years from city of Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Clinical conditions were evaluated using the DMFT and dmft indexes. Socio-economic data were obtained using a questionnaire sent to schoolchildren's parents. School performance was evaluated by the final scores of each schoolchild at the end of the 2011 school year.


RESULTS
According to the final logistic regression model, the schoolchildren who had carious lesions and underwent curative dental treatment at the beginning of the academic year presented 1.51 more chance of having low performance compared with schoolchildren who had no caries lesions. In addition, socio-economic and demographic variables were associated with a greater chance of poor school performance.


CONCLUSIONS
Socio-economic factors and presence of caries lesions, even if treated, were risk indicators for poor school performance.
Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Janice Simpson
JS
Paula
Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Cristina Martins
CM
Lisboa
Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Marcelo de Castro
Mde C
Meneghim
Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Antônio Carlos
AC
Pereira
Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Glaucia Maria Bovi
GM
Ambrosano
Department of Community Dentistry, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Fábio Luiz
FL
Mialhe
D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires