The objective of this study was to verify whether oral conditions (tooth loss, periodontal disease, dental caries) are negatively associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults. A search was carried out on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, and LILACS databases until the end of July 2016 with no date restrictions. Quantitative observational studies written in English were included and data extraction was performed independently by 2 reviewers. HRQoL was investigated as the outcome, and tooth loss, periodontal diseases, and dental caries were exposures. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used and the quality of the selected studies was assessed by using the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics assessment and review instrument (JBI-MAStARI). Twenty-one studies were included. The sample sizes ranged from 88 to 15,501 subjects; 20 studies were cross-sectional designs, while 1 was a case-control study. Case definitions of the exposures were different across the studies, mainly for tooth loss, which was defined according to 11 different criteria. Fifteen studies were of "high" and 6 of "medium" quality. Eight HRQoL instruments were identified, and the most frequent was the EuroQol ( n = 8). Ten of 16 studies reported a negative impact of tooth loss on HRQoL. Four of 7 studies reported that periodontal disease impairs HRQoL, and 1 study showed that periodontal disease is positively associated with HRQoL. All studies that assessed dental caries reported a negative association between this condition and HRQoL. Despite the different definitions and measures of tooth loss and dental caries, the majority of the available evidence reported a negative impact of these conditions on HRQoL. Mixed and inconclusive findings were observed for the association between periodontal disease and HRQoL. Longitudinal prospective studies are suggested to improve the strength of the findings.

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence, aetiology, place of occurrence and rates of treatment of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) among 12-year-old schoolchildren in Herval D'Oeste, Brazil. A cross-sectional survey was carried out through clinical examination of upper and lower permanent incisors and interviews with 297, 12-year-old schoolchildren enrolled in public and private schools. Intra-examiner diagnosis variability, measured by kappa values on tooth-by-tooth basis was above 0.7. The prevalence of TDI was 17.3% (95% CI 12.7-21.9). Children who had an incisal overjet size >5 mm were 3.5 (95% CI 1.5-8.1) times more likely to have TDI than children who had an incisal overjet of <5 mm (P = 0.005). The most common type of injury found was enamel fracture alone. Of the total of 87 traumatized teeth, only 27.6% were treated. Acid etch restorations were the most common treatment provided. Acid etch restorations were the most common type of treatment needed. The majority of the cases of TDI occurred at home (17.8%) and at school (17.8%). Collisions (24.5%), mainly with doors, and physical leisure activities (20.0%) such as cycling and playing soccer were the main activities related to TDI aetiology. It can be concluded that there is a great treatment need reflecting neglect of TDI treatment. The main causes of TDI were collisions and physical leisure activities.

Harmful social and biological risk factors accumulated in early life contributed to the development of a high level of dental caries in childhood.

The prevalence of dental erosion in 12-year-old schoolchildren living in a small city in southern Brazil appears to be lower than that seen in most of epidemiological studies carried out in different parts of the world. Further longitudinal studies should be conducted in Brazil in order to measure the incidence of dental erosion and its impact on children's quality of life.

The authors aimed to critically review the literature regarding the relationship between retention of teeth and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and the extent to which tooth retention can ensure OHRQoL among adults. The authors investigated studies that assessed the relationship between number of teeth and OHRQoL and how the position, type, and/or pattern of the teeth is related to OHRQoL. Relevant papers published in English from January 2004 to September 2015 were searched via PubMed and EMBASE. Twenty-nine papers-including cross-sectional, longitudinal, clinical trial, and case-control studies-were included and categorized according to 4 subthemes to achieve the stated aim: 1) number of teeth or missing teeth and OHRQoL, 2) occluding pairs or functional units and OHRQoL, 3) position of remaining or missing teeth and OHRQoL, and 4) shortened dental arches (SDAs) and OHRQoL. The main findings for each subtheme were as follows: 1) A significant association between number of teeth and OHRQoL was shown in most studies; however, those studies found different cutoff points regarding the number of teeth that affect OHRQoL, after adjusting for other factors in the analyses (e.g., age, sex, cultural background, and study locations). 2) The number of occluding pairs and the location of remaining teeth have great impacts on OHRQoL. 3) Having fewer anterior occluding pairs had a greater negative impact on aesthetics and thus affected OHRQoL. 4) Two randomized clinical trials on SDAs indicated that people with SDAs do not show worse OHRQoL than do those with removable dentures. The only 2 population-based studies on SDAs showed that adults with SDAs have no impaired OHRQoL when compared with those having more natural teeth. To conclude, this review found evidence that retention of teeth is associated with better OHRQoL. The number of occluding pairs and the location of remaining teeth have great impacts on OHRQoL. People with SDAs maintain an acceptable level of OHRQoL.

Assessment and understanding of self-rated oral health should take into account social factors, subjective and clinical oral symptoms.

Prolonged breastfeeding increases the risk of having dental caries. Preventive interventions for dental caries should be established as early as possible because breastfeeding is beneficial for children's health. Mechanisms underlying this process should be investigated more deeply.

The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of low functional capacity and associated factors in Joaçaba, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in 2003-2004, using a household survey (n = 345). Subjects who demonstrated difficulty in performing 6 or more activities or inability to conduct 3 of the activities according to the scale proposed by Rikli & Jones were defined as having low functional capacity. A questionnaire covering socioeconomic, demographic, housing, and self-perceived socioeconomic variables was applied. The study included distribution of the target variables' simple frequency, chi-square association tests, and multiple logistic regression analysis. The response rate was 92.7%, with a low functional prevalence of 37.1% (95%CI: 32.0-42.2). Mean age was 69.5 years. After adjusting for confounding variables, the factors associated with low functional capacity were: age > 70 years, female gender, and negative self-perceived socioeconomic status. A high percentage of elderly citizens in Joaçaba show low functional capacity, leading to dependency. Health programs that delay the onset of such disabilities could contribute to healthier aging.