Malocclusion in adolescents in the State of São Paulo: spatial and hierarchical analysis

Abstract

The scope of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution of malocclusion (MO), estimate the prevalence and evaluate the associated factors in adolescents. It was a study with results of 5,558 adolescents aged 15 to 19 from the São Paulo Oral Health (SB) 2015 survey. The outcome was MO. Sociodemographic aspects, access to dental services, dental caries and tooth loss were the independent variables. A total of 162 municipalities in the state of São Paulo were included and spatial statistics techniques were applied. Hierarchical logistic regression models were performed. The prevalence of MO was 29.3%. There was a spread pattern between the types of MO and positive detachment (p<0,05). Non-white adolescents (OR=1.32, 95%CI: 1.24-1.42), with less years of schooling (OR=1.30, 95%CI: 1.22-1.42), with teeth extracted due to caries (OR=1.40, 95%CI: 1.03-1.88) were more likely to have MO. Adolescent access to dental consultation did not contribute to reducing the chance of developing MO, regardless of whether the dental consultation occurred less (OR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.65-2.47) or more than one year before (OR=1.63, 95%CI: 1.31-2.03). Thus, the occurrence of MO is unequally distributed in the state of São Paulo and associated with sociodemographic conditions, access to consultations and tooth loss due to caries.

Key words
Malocclusion; Epidemiology; Access to Health Services