Prevalence of self-reported dental pain and associated factors among eight- to ten-year-old Brazilian schoolchildren

Abstract

Aim To assess the prevalence of self-reported dental pain and its association with sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral/psychosocial indicators among 8- to 10-year-old Brazilian schoolchildren. Design A cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,589 eight- to ten-year-old children randomly selected from public schools of Florianopolis, Brazil. Self-reports of dental pain were collected through a single question as follows: “In the last month, how many times have you had pain in your teeth?” Caries experience was determined by the DMFT/dmft index and its clinical consequences by the PUFA/pufa index. Dental trauma, dental fluorosis and molar-incisor hypomineralization were assessed through the Andreasen, Dean and European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry classifications, respectively. Clinical signs of dental erosion were also observed. Sociodemographic indicators were obtained through a questionnaire answered by the children’s caregivers. Information about behavioral/psychosocial indicators was collected through questions from the Brazilian version of the Child Perception Questionnaire 8–10 years (CPQ 8–10 ). Descriptive analysis, chi-square test, and hierarchically adjusted Poisson regression models were performed. Results 819 children (51.5%) reported episodes of dental pain in the last month prior to the study, whereas 55.6% (n = 509) were girls. The presence of dental pain was significantly associated with sex, trouble sleeping, difficulty eating, school absenteeism, difficulty with paying attention in class, difficulty doing homework, staying away from recreational activities, caries experience, PUFA/pufa index and ulceration (p<0.05). Conclusion The prevalence of self-reported dental pain in 8- to 10- year-old Brazilian schoolchildren was high and was associated with sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral/psychosocial indicators.

Global and regional estimates of dental pain among children and adolescents—systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The prevalence of dental pain ranged from 1.33 to 87.8% (Ananthakrishnan et al 2001 ; Naidoo et al 2001 ). Sixteen publications reported a prevalence of more than 50% (Adeniyi and Odusanya 2017 ; Alzahrani 2019 ; Barreto et al 2017 ; Bashirian et al 2018 ; Dandi et al 2011 ; Van Dijk et al 2006 ; Hu et al 2018 ; Jürgensen and Petersen 2011 , 2009 ; Mishra et al 2018 ; Naidoo et al 2001 ; Oliveira et al 2018 ; Santos et al 2019 ; Shekhawat et al 2016 ; Shidara et al 2007 ; Soares et al 2015 ). Only ten studies reported a prevalence of less than 10% (Ananthakrishnan et al 2001 ; Booth et al 1992 ; Hardy et al 2018 ; Karibe et al 2015 ; Lemes et al 2015 ; Rupali et al 2010 ; Sarri et al 2012 ; Siegal et al 2004 ; Siqueira et al 2013 ; Sousa et al 2014 ) and 18 publications reported prevalence between 10 and 20% (Bastos et al 2008 ; Corrêa-Faria et al 2018 ; Dogar et al 2011 ; Du et al 2011 ; Evans et al 1995 ; Figueiredo et al 2011 ; Goettems et al 2018 ; Guskuma et al 2017 ; Kamran et al 2017 ; Kumar et al 2014 ; Lewis and Stout 2010 ; Maharani et al 2019 ; Misrohmasari et al 2018 ; Perera and Ekanayake 2008 ; Ratnayake and Ekanayake 2005 ; Treasure and Dever 1992 ; Vargas et al 2005 , 2002 ).…”

“…Pain is defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage (Treede 2018 ).” Pain is multidimensional in nature and consists of physiological and psychological variables linked with tissue damage (Santos et al 2019 ). Despite considerable improvements in oral health care delivery, dental pain is acknowledged as a common symptom of oral disease (Goes et al 2008 ).…”

“…It is one of the major problems due to which individuals avail dental treatment. It has a considerable impact on the daily activities of individuals like eating, sleeping, homework, paying attention in the class (Goes et al 2008 ; Naidoo et al 2013 ; Santos et al 2019 ), school absenteeism (Ferraz et al 2014 ; Ruff et al 2019 ), playing, low academic achievement, (Ruff et al 2019 ; Seirawan et al 2012 ) and avoidance of particular foods which might trigger the pain. Similarly, parents of children having dental pain reported higher workplace absenteeism (Ribeiro et al 2015b ), increased expenditure (2016) and guilt (Gomes et al 2014 ).…”

Effect of Endodontic Sealer in Young Molars Treated by Undergraduate Students - A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Molars are the first permanent teeth to erupt, which occurs between 5 and 7 years of age, when the mixed dentition is established (1). The difficulty of proper hygiene due to the early age of patients associated with parent's failure to notice the eruption of the posterior permanent teeth may contribute to caries progression (2). In addition, despite the reduction in caries incidence rates in development countries, it is still a public health problem associated with lower socioeconomical status which mainly affects children and adolescents (2,3).…”

“…The difficulty of proper hygiene due to the early age of patients associated with parent's failure to notice the eruption of the posterior permanent teeth may contribute to caries progression (2). In addition, despite the reduction in caries incidence rates in development countries, it is still a public health problem associated with lower socioeconomical status which mainly affects children and adolescents (2,3). Caries progression in young molar teeth frequently results in endodontic treatment need to avoid tooth extraction (4).…”