This study aimed to assess the impact of oral health on the quality of life of adolescents. A cross-sectional study was performed with students from public and private schools from Passo Fundo, Brazil. All students were aged between 15 and 19 years old. The proportional random sample consisted of 736 adolescents from 20 schools. A structured questionnaire was applied, and an oral examination was performed, counting the number of teeth. Oral health-related quality of life was assessed by OHIP-14. Associations between quality of life and associated factors were analyzed. The mean OHIP-14 score was 7.25. Age, ethnicity and studying in a public school were associated to the OHIP-14 score. Tooth loss (p=0.79) was not associated with quality of life. Additionally, questions related to appearance, such as whether teeth appearance bothers the adolescent (p=0.68) were not associated with quality of life. Attending a public school (OR=1.63; CI95%: 0.98-2.70) and self-reported halitosis (OR=1.48; CI95%: 1.01-2.16) were strongly associated to higher impact on quality of life. It was concluded that socioeconomic conditions and halitosis were associated to higher impact on quality of life of adolescents O r a l H e

This study aimed to evaluate the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and associated factors in the elderly. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 287 elderly of Cruz Alta, Brazil. The following variables were collected: age, sex, ethnicity, level of education, marital status, retirement, medical/dental history, smoking/alcohol exposure, oral hygiene habits, use and need of dental prosthesis, missing teeth, temporomandibular disorder symptoms (TMD), nutritional status, and halitosis. OHRQoL was assessed by Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). The sample was categorized into low impact (sum scores ≤6) and high impact (sum scores ≥7). Associations were analyzed by Poisson regression with robust variation. Mean scores of OHIP-14 was 5.92±8.54. Divorced individuals and those who did not use dental floss presented 77% and 54%, respectively, higher prevalence ratio (PR) of having higher OHRQoL impact. Elderly that did not need dental prosthesis demonstrated a lower impact on OHRQoL (P<0.01). Elderly with TMD presented a higher PR of having higher OHRQoL impact (P<0.01). It was concluded that higher impact on OHRQoL was associated with marital status, non-users of dental floss and those with TMD. No need dental prosthesis were associated with lower impact on OHRQoL.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of temporomandibular dysfunction symptoms and the associated factors in the elderly of a city in southern Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study performed in residential homes, with probabilistic cluster sample, interviewed and examined 287 seniors aged from 65 to 74 years in the city of Cruz Alta, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The Fonseca Anamnestic Index was used for temporomandibular dysfunction analysis, as well as a structured questionnaire for socioeconomic conditions and an oral health clinical examination. Either Chisquare or Mann-Whitney tests assessed associations between the dependent and independent variables and presented by frequency distribution. Uni-and multivariate analyses were performed to verify the association between temporomandibular dysfunction risk and explanatory variables. For all statistical analyses, a 5% significance level was adopted. RESULTS: The prevalence of temporomandibular dysfunction symptoms was 55.1%. In the final multivariate model, age ≥70 years (RP=0.674; 95% CI: 0.516-0.881) showed as a protection factor against temporomandibular dysfunction, and the average of tooth loss (RP=1.022; 95% CI: 1.004-1.039) showed as a risk factor for temporomandibular dysfunction in relation to their respective controls. Association between temporomandibular disorder symptoms and demographic, dental and behavioral factors in the elderly: a populationbased cross-sectional study Associação entre sintomas de disfunção temporomandibular e fatores demográficos, odontológicos e comportamentais em idosos: um estudo transversal de base populacional

Aim: To investigate tooth loss and its determinants in adolescents, considering the effect of extractions due to orthodontics reasons. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in students from public and private schools aged 15-19 years old from Passo Fundo, Brazil. The proportional randomly chosen sample included 736 adolescents. Clinical examinations and interviews were performed. Associations between prevalence of tooth loss and exposure variables studied were analysed by Poisson Regression with uni- and multivariate robust variance in two models. One model comprised students who had experienced tooth loss without orthodontic reasons and the other with all of the subjects presenting tooth loss. Results: Prevalence of tooth loss was 21.1% (mean of 0.42). Higher chances for tooth loss were found in the following features:  non-whites (PR=1.72; CI95%:1.15-2.60), poorly schooling mothers (PR=2.2; CI95%:0.96-5.02), from public schools (PR=4.16; CI95%:0.98-17.59), smokers (PR=1.91; CI95%:1.15-3.17). Conclusion: Demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural conditions were strongly associated with tooth loss. These associations were more evident when extractions for orthodontic reasons were not included in the analytical models.

IntroduçãoEstudos têm demonstrado o declínio da experiência de cárie no Brasil, especialmente nos últi-mos anos 1,2,3,4 . No entanto, apesar da melhoria nos índices de cárie, a distribuição da doença ainda é desigual, sendo observada maior ocorrência especialmente entre a população mais pobre 4,5 .Esta diminuição nos índices de cárie, verificada também em países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento, tem sido atribuída a diferentes fatores. Entre eles, destacam-se a expansão da fluoretação das águas de consumo humano, os diversos tipos de programas preventivos existentes e particularmente a disseminação do consumo de dentifrícios fluoretados. Isso fez que dentre as principais recomendações da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) para melhoria da saúde bucal na população mundial esteja o uso efetivo do flúor 6 . Quando análises de diferentes populações são realizadas em relação ao declínio da cá-rie, somente um método de prevenção é comum a todos os países: dentifrício fluoretado. Isso foi observado em países que tiveram a introdução e o uso regular de creme dental fluoretado 7,8 .Práticas de higiene bucal desempenham importante papel na prevenção às doenças bucais 9 . Sabe-se que, também, essas práticas invariavelmente incluem o uso do dentifrício. Em geral, os brasileiros citam ter hábitos razoáveis de 546 ARTIGO ARTICLE