Dental care utilization among children in Brazil: an exploratory study based on data from national household surveys

• Autor(a) principal: Barasuol,Jéssica Copetti
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Garcia,Leila Posenato, Freitas,Rafaella Coelho, Dalpian,Debora Martini, Menezes,José Vitor Nogara Borges, Santos,Bianca Zimmermann
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Ciência & Saúde Coletiva (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-81232019000200649
• topic: Inequality; Access to health care

Abstract Wide availability of access to dental services can be considered a predictor of better oral health outcomes in a population. This article aims to compare data from the Brazilian National Household Sample Surveys (PNAD) on dental services utilization among children aged 4 to 12 years. This cross-sectional study was carried out using data from the 1998, 2003, and 2008 National Household Sample Surveys, involving a total of 61.438, 64.659 and 59.561 children, respectively. Ninety-nine percent confidence intervals were considered for the prevalence of each outcome of interest. In 1998, 60.8% (99%CI: 59.4;62.1) of children had been to a dentist; this prevalence was 65.5% (99%CI: 64.4;66.7) in 2003 and 73.8% (99%CI: 72.1;74.2) in 2008. In 1998, 41.2% (99%CI: 39.1;43.3) of children in the lowest household income quartile had been to a dentist; this value was 61.4% (99%CI: 59.5;63.2) in 2008. Among children from families whose head of household had 4 years of formal education or fewer, 49.5% and 63% had been to a dentist in 1998 and 2008, respectively. The lifetime prevalence of dentist attendance among Brazilian children increased between 1998 and 2008, especially among those from low-income families and those whose head of household had a low educational level.