Increasing evidence suggests that socioeconomic factors may be associated with an increased risk of dental caries. To provide better evidence of the association between dental caries in adults and socioeconomic indicators, we evaluated the relation between these two conditions in a thorough review of the literature. Seven databases were systematically searched: Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Bireme, Controlled Trials, Clinical Trials and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. No restrictions were placed on the language or year of publication. The search yielded 41 studies for systematic review. Two independent reviewers screened the studies for inclusion, extracted data and evaluated quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The following socioeconomic indicators were found: educational level, income, occupation, socio-economic status and the community index. These indicators were significantly associated with a greater occurrence of dental caries: the subject’s education, subject’s income, subject’s occupation and the Gini coefficient. A high degree of heterogeneity was found among the methods. Quality varied across studies. The criteria employed for socioeconomic indicators and dental caries should be standardized in future studies. The scientific evidence reveals that educational level, income, occupation and the Gini coefficient are associated with dental caries.

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A retrospective study was performed to assess facial fractures in patients treated at a public hospital in Belo Horizonte, in 2000. The data collected included age, gender, etiology, distribution of maxillofacial trauma considering day of the week and month, anatomic site of the fracture, and treatment. The analyses involved descriptive statistics and chi-squared test, Bonferroni test and analysis of variance. A total of 1,326 facial fractures were found in 911 patients. Most fractures occurred in adults with age ranging from 21 to 30 years. Men were more affected than women, with a male-female ratio of 4.69:1. Accidents causing facial fractures occurred predominantly on weekends. Bicycle and motorcycle accidents were the major cause of trauma, followed by interpersonal violence, automobile accidents, and falls. When the relation between the gender and the etiology of facial fractures was analyzed, a significant relation was noted between these variables (p < 0.001). There was also a relation between the patients' age and the site of the fractures (p = 0.0014). The mandible was found to be the most commonly fractured bone in the facial skeleton, followed by the zygomatic complex and the nose. A non-surgical approach was chosen in most cases. There were significant differences between the kind of treatment applied and the site of the fracture (p < 0.001). DESCRIPTORS: Maxillary fractures; Mandibular fractures; Facial injuries; Epidemiologic studies. RESUMO:Um estudo retrospectivo foi realizado para avaliar fraturas faciais em pacientes atendidos no ano de 2000 em um hospital público de Belo Horizonte. As informações coletadas incluíam idade, sexo, etiologia, distribuição do trauma de acordo com o dia da semana e o mês, o local anatômico da fratura e o tratamento. As análises envolveram estatísticas descritivas, teste qui-quadrado, teste Bonferroni e análise de variância. Foram encontradas 1.326 fraturas de face em 911 pacientes. A maioria das fraturas ocorreu em adultos na faixa etária de 21 a 30 anos. Os homens foram mais acometidos do que as mulheres, numa proporção homem:mulher de 4,69:1. Os traumas causadores de fraturas faciais ocorreram predominantemente nos fins de semana. Os acidentes de moto e bicicleta foram a maior causa de trauma, seguidos por violência interpessoal, acidentes automobilísticos e quedas. Quando analisada a relação entre o gênero e a etiologia das fraturas de face, observou-se uma associação estatisticamente significativa entre essas variáveis (p < 0,001). Houve também uma associação entre a idade dos pacientes e a localização das fraturas (p = 0,0014). O osso facial mais fraturado foi a mandíbula, seguida por complexo zigomático e nariz. O tratamento conservador foi realizado na maioria dos casos. Houve diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre o tipo de tratamento instituído e a localização da fratura (p < 0,001).

Despite the high survival rate observed, there is an impending need for conducting randomized controlled clinical trials to test the efficacy of these implants in comparison with the other techniques to treat the atrophic maxilla. Thus, the findings reported in the review must be interpreted with considerable caution. Moreover, more studies with longer follow-up periods involving adequate number of ZIs are needed. This will help to obtain a better understanding of the survival of ZIs in a long term. It is suggested that multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trials and longer clinical studies should be implemented in this area, before recommending routine use of ZIs for patients could be given. The placement of zygomatic implants requires very experienced surgeons because it is not risk free since delicate anatomic structures such as the orbita and brain may be involved.

BackgroundTraumatic dental injury (TDI) during childhood may negatively impact the quality of life of children.ObjectiveTo describe the association of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and domains (oral symptons, functional limitation, emotional- and social-well-being) of children with individual and contextual variables.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed using a representative sample of 1,201 schoolchildren, 8–10 years-old, from public and private schools of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The CPQ8–10 was used to assess OHRQoL, dichotomized in low and high impact. Sociodemographic information was collected through questionnaires to parents. Children were examined at schools, using the Andreasen criteria. Individual variables were gender, age, number of residents in home, parents/caregivers’ level of education, family income, and TDI (dichotomized into without trauma/mild trauma and severe trauma). Dental caries and malocclusion were considered co-variables. Contextual variables were the Social Vulnerability Index and type of school. Ethical approval and consent forms were obtained. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows 19.0 and HLM 6.06, including frequency distribution, chi-squared test and multilevel approach (p < 0.05).ResultsThe prevalence of a negative impact on OHRQoL in children with severe trauma was 55.9%. The TDI negatively impacted emotional and social domains of OHRQoL. A multilevel analysis revealed a significant difference in OHRQoL according to the type of school and showed that 16% of the total variance was due to contextual characteristics (p < 0.001; ICC = 0.16). The negative impact on OHRQoL was higher in girls (p = 0.009), younger children (p = 0.023), with severe TDI (p = 0.014), those from public schools (p = 0.017) and whose parents had a lower education level (p = 0.001).ConclusionSevere trauma impacts OHRQoL on emotional and social domains. Contextual dimensions add information to individual variability to explain higher impact, emphasizing socioeconomic inequalities.