Early-life socioeconomic status and malocclusion in adolescents and young adults in Uruguay

Abstract

This study aims to estimate orthodontic treatment need among 15-24 year-old individuals in Montevideo, Uruguay, and the association of occlusal traits with demographic, clinical and socioeconomic factors, considering a life course approach. A cross-sectional study using data from the First National Oral Health Survey in Uruguay was conducted. A two-stage cluster procedure was used to select a sample of 278 individuals in Montevideo. Household interviews and oral examinations were performed by six dentists. Dental Aesthetic (DAI) and Decayed Missing and Filled Teeth Indices (DMFT) were used to assess orthodontic treatment need and dental caries, respectively. Early life and current socioeconomic factors were obtained from the interview. Ordinal logistic regression was used to model the DAI index. Prevalence of definite malocclusion was 20.6%, followed by severe (8.2%) and very severe (7.6%). In the adjusted analysis, individuals with untreated dental caries (OR = 1.11; 95%CI: 1.03-1.20) and those who reported a lower socioeconomic level at 6 years of age (OR = 5.52; 95%CI: 1.06-28.62) had a higher chance of being a worse case of malocclusion. Current socioeconomic position was not associated with orthodontic treatment need. Individuals aged 22-24 years (OR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.05-2.41) had a lower chance than those aged 14-17. This study shows that orthodontic treatment need is relatively high in Uruguayan adolescents and young adults. There is a potential relationship between early life socioeconomic status and the occurrence of malocclusion in adolescents and young adults under a life course approach.

Oral health of 12-year-old children in Quito, Ecuador: a population-based epidemiological survey

“…Comparing results obtained in Quito with findings obtained in Latin American cities, we observed a prevalence of severe or handicapping malocclusion of around 25%, which is similar to studies performed in some Brazilian cities [27–29] or the value observed in the Brazilian Oral Health Survey, conducted in 2010 [30]. Comparing with other regions from Latin America, prevalence value observed in Quito was slightly higher than those observed in Uruguay or Mexico [31, 32]. However, these latter studies were conducted with older persons, what can explain the differences.…”

Life course approach in the assessment of association between dental caries and health capital with family-related characteristics among 12-year-old school children

“…[19] Children belonging to low socioeconomic class in government schools had more number of untreated caries compared with children from private schools which is similar to the study conducted by Schou (1995)[20] and Goettams (2018). [21] It is well known that children from low socio economic background cannot afford the costly dental treatment. The reason could be lack of dental awareness and less affordability to dental care.…”

Maloclusão e bullying em adolescentes escolares

“…Possíveis justificativas para a expressiva taxa de má oclusão encontradas nesse estudo podem estar relacionadas às baixas condições socioeconômicas (Goettems et al, 2018;Rebouças et al, 2017;Teixeira et al, 2016;Silveira et al, 2016) nas quais a maioria dos adolescentes pesquisados estão inseridos e, também, ao baixo grau de escolaridade materna apresentado (Teixeira et al, 2016;Goettems et al, 2018;Rebouças et al, 2017). Development, v. 9, n. 10, e699108403, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i10.8403 Segundo trabalhos realizados por Teixeira et al (2016), as condições socioeconômicas estariam relacionadas às condições bucais.…”

“…Esses autores relatam que existe uma relação potencial entre o status socioeconômico na primeira infância e a ocorrência de más oclusões em adolescentes. É possível que o percurso socioeconômico determine a exposição a fatores predisponentes à má oclusão, incluindo a adoção de hábitos nocivos, como a sucção digital, uso de chupeta, mamadeira, respiração bucal e onicofagia, e às perdas precoces de elementos dentários pior saúde bucal e menor oportunidade de acesso a medidas preventivas, consultas e tratamentos precoces (Goettems et al, 2018).…”