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Background Self‐perceived oral health (SPOH) is a summary of multiple determinants related to oral health and has been suggested for use in clinical practice as a health assessment tool. Aim To analyse determinants of SPOH among adolescents. Design In 2018, we selected 1742 participants from eight high schools in Olinda/PE, Brazil, using a multistage stratified cluster sample. The main survey item of SPOH was ‘How would you rate your oral health’. Determinants of were queried with a questionnaire and a clinical examination: socio‐demographic variables, exposure to family violence, somatic symptoms, and orofacial and general health factors. Pearson's chi‐square test and logistic regressions evaluated associations between determinants and SPOH. Results Very poor SPOH had a prevalence of 8.7%. Nearly half (43.5%) rated their oral health as ‘fair’. Very poor SPOH was associated with poor self‐perceived general health (OR = 2.60), anterior open bite (OR = 2.24), not cohabiting with one or both parents (OR = 2.40), caries experience (OR = 1.93), dental pain (OR = 1.91), and temporomandibular disorders (OR = 1.77). Conclusion Very poor self‐perceived oral health indicates life stress and associates with poor oral conditions. Assessments should be used to explore individual treatment needs and abilities to comply with recommendations.

Background Dental anxiety is a common issue among adolescents. Despite the use of smartphones being an important part of their daily lives, only a few digital‐based interventions for dental anxiety have been tested in randomized controlled trials (RCT). Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate a new smartphone application (App) named FALE, which was designed to demonstrate interest from the dentist to adolescent and to reduce dental anxiety. Design This is a RCT in which 184 adolescents aged 10–19 years were randomly allocated into the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG). The intervention was applied in the waiting room before the consultation at a dental clinic. The IG answered the FALE, which contained 14 questions—of which the first and last questions addressed anxiety, whereas the CG answered the question about anxiety twice with an interval between them. Results There was a significant difference in the distribution of anxiety rating frequencies before and after the intervention period in both groups. For the IG, there was a reduction in anxiety after the intervention of 16.29%, and, in the CG, a reduction of 2.2% (p < .001). Conclusion The FALE App effectively reduced dental anxiety before the appointment.

O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar e descrever possibilidades e estratégias para melhorar a comunicação entre o dentista e o paciente adolescente. Para tanto, realizou-se uma revisão integrativa da literatura mediante busca na base de dados MEDLINE/PubMed usando os descritores: adolescent, child, communication, health communication e dentist. A seleção dos estudos foi realizada por dois pesquisadores, de forma independente. Foram considerados estudos originais que incluíam participantes com idade entre 10 e 19 anos. Primeiro foi realizada a leitura de títulos e resumos, depois a seleção foi mediante leitura dos textos na íntegra. Por fim, seis estudos foram incluídos na revisão, correspondendo a literatura dos últimos oito anos. Um era um estudo transversal e os demais eram Ensaios Randomizados Controlados. Os estudos avaliaram estratégias em relação à comunicação verbal, escrita e virtual, como folhetos impressos, mapas mentais, formulários e recursos digitais. Como desfecho, obtiveram resultados positivos para diminuição da dor, e da ansiedade odontológica, e maior retenção de informações fornecidas pelo cirurgião-dentista. Diante disso, o cirurgião-dentista deve buscar meios adicionais para melhorar a comunicação com o paciente adolescente, e a literatura atual fornece algumas ferramentas com bons resultados, inclusive no que se refere ao atendimento do paciente com ansiedade odontológica. Incluir o resumo.