Purpose As people around the world are facing the Covid-19 outbreak, their perception of oral health problems could be changed. This study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents. Methods A cohort study with schoolchildren from southern Brazil was conducted. Data on adolescents' OHRQoL were collected from December 2019 to February 2020 (T1), before the Brazilian Covid-19 outbreak. Posteriorly, the data were collected again in June and July of 2020 (T2), under the Brazilian Covid-19 outbreak. The OHRQoL was assessed using the Brazilian short version of the CPQ11-14. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the degree of social distancing were also assessed. Changes in OHRQoL between T1 and T2 were evaluated by adjusted Multilevel Poisson regression models for repeated measures. Results From 290 individuals evaluated at T1, 207 were reevaluated at T2 (response rate of 71.3%). The overall CPQ11-14 mean score was significantly lower during the pandemic, reducing from 10.8 at T1 to 7.7 at T2. This significant reduction was also observed for all CPQ domains, indicating a lower negative impact of oral conditions on adolescents' quality of life during the pandemic. Adolescents from families that had a middle or low degree of social distancing during the pandemic and whose parents were harmed in employment had higher CPQ11-14 scores. Conclusion Overall and specific-domains CPQ-14 scores were significantly lower during the Brazilian Covid-19 outbreak, indicating a decrease in the perception of oral health problems by adolescents over that period.

This study aimed to assess the association of demographic conditions, socioeconomic status, clinical variables, and psychosocial factors with the number of filled teeth in adolescents from public schools. This cohort study comprised 1,134 12-year-old adolescents enrolled in public schools in Santa Maria, Brazil, in 2012. They were followed-up in 2014, where 743 individuals were reassessed (follow-up rate of 65.52%) for the number of filled teeth. Data were collected via dental examinations and structured interviews. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were collected from parents or legal guardians. The psychosocial factor comprised students' subjective measurement of happiness (Brazilian version of the Subjective Happiness Scale-SHS). Dental examinations were performed to assess the number of filled teeth through decay, missing, and filled teeth index (DMF-T). Unadjusted and adjusted Poisson regression analyses were performed to assess the association between baseline variables and filled teeth at follow-up. The number of filled teeth in 2012 and 2014 were 193 (17.02%) and 235 (31.63%), respectively. The incidence of filled teeth in 2014 was 42 (5.65%). Adolescents with untreated dental caries, those who visited the dentist in the last 6 months, those that exhibited being happier, and those who had filled teeth at baseline were associated with a higher number of filled teeth at follow-up. We conclude that the number of filled teeth in adolescents was influenced by clinical and psychosocial factors, emphasizing the need to focus on oral health policies in individuals with higher disease burden and those who feel psychologically inferior.

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BackgroundDental fear affects children's oral health; there is, however, no evidence regarding the pathways linking possible predictors for its occurrence.AimThis study aimed at exploring the direct and indirect effects of sociodemographic, clinical, behavioural and psychosocial factors on the development of dental fear in schoolchildren over time.DesignThis is a prospective cohort study, with 10 years of follow‐up. The first assessment started in 2010 (T1) with a sample of 639 children aged 1–5 years from Southern Brazil. For this study, the follow‐up (T2) of these individuals was performed in 2020. Dental fear was assessed at T2 using the Brazilian version of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule–Dental Subscale (CFSS–DS). Socio‐economic, demographic, psychosocial and oral health measures were collected in both assessments. A structural equation model was performed to assess the direct and indirect pathways among variables at T1 and T2 to predict the CFSS–DS scores at T2.ResultsOf the 639 children, 429 were re‐evaluated at T2. Higher levels of untreated dental caries, younger individuals, dental visits for nonroutine reasons and low sense of coherence at T2 directly impacted dental fear at T2. Considering the indirect effects, the presence of dental caries and low household income at T1 indirectly impacted higher levels of dental fear over 10 years via dental caries at follow‐up.ConclusionOur findings suggest that socio‐economic, demographic, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural conditions can influence dental fear from childhood to adolescence.

Objectives Evaluate the moderating effect of the SOC in the relationship between racial discrimination and OHRQoL in scholars. Materials and Methods This is a cross-sectional study nested in a cohort performed in southern Brazil. OHRQoL was assessed using the short version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 11–14. The perception of racial discrimination was measured using a question contained in the Bullying Questionnaire by Olweus, and SOC through the shortened version of the 13-item Sense of Coherence Scale. Sociodemographic and dental caries characteristics were also collected. A simple slop test and Poisson regression analysis were performed to test the interaction effects of the predictors on OHRQoL. The results are presented in Rate Ratio and 95% confidence interval. Results A total of 429 scholars were included in this study. About 6.7% reported had perceived racial discrimination. The simple slope test indicated that the negative effects of racial discrimination on OHRQoL were significant under different SOC levels. Among scholars who suffered racial discrimination, those who had higher SOC reported lower impact on OHRQoL (RR 0.70; 95%CI 0.55–0.89) when compared to those with low SOC. Conclusion SOC can be considered a moderating variable in the relationship between racial discrimination and OHRQoL. These findings highlight the potential importance of the SOC in reducing the harmful effects of racial discrimination on OHRQoL. Clinical Relevance: It is important that we present ways to minimize the impacts of racial discrimination in order to reduce the effects of these acts on different oral health outcomes throughout life.