Profile of patients treated in dentistry course discipline of Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: The overall population has been using quality and mostly free-of-charge dental care services provided by universities. Objectives: Identifying the sociodemographic profile, health history and oral health habits of patients treated in the Dental Restoration Clinic (ORC) of UFES. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study based on dental records. Collected data were subjected to descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test and Maximum Likelihood Ratio. Results: In total, 222 individuals were treated. Patients in the age group 51-60 years (38.8%), women (75.2%) and those living in the metropolitan region of Vitória (94.60%) were the ones who mostly used the investigated services. In total, 150 patients reported to have systemic diseases, 39.3% of them had more than 3 concomitant diseases. Cardiovascular (23.78%) and infectious diseases (15.36%) were the most prevalent systemic changes. Regular use of medication was reported by 132 patients; it was significantly higher in women (65.9%) and in the age group 51-60 years (79.1%) (p = 0.00). Antihypertensive drug using was reported by the largest number of patients (21.72%), and they were followed by anxiolytics (17.17%). With respect to oral hygiene, most patients reported to brush their teeth 3 times a day (63%), as well as to floss on a daily basis (63.5%); this habit was mostly prevalent among women (71.3%, p = 0.00). Conclusion: Patients were mostly women, in the age group 51-60 years. Cardiovascular diseases were most often referred, and antihypertensive medications were most often used by participants, who reported high sugar intake and tooth brushing 3 time a day.