Uso regular de serviços odontológicos entre universitários de uma universidade federal do sul do Brasil

Abstract

In recent years there has been an expansion of federal institutions of higher education. The Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) receives students from all Brazilian regions with different sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics. These young people are characterized as individuals in the consolidation phase of healthy habits. The objective of this study was to verify the prevalence and factors associated with the regular use of dental services among UFPel scholars. This study is linked to the research consortium of the master's degree students 2017/2018 of the Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology of UFPel (PPGE-UFPel). This is a cross-sectional study that interviewed 1865 students over the age of 18, entrants in 2017/, 1 enrolled in the second semester of 2017 and in the first of 2018 in presential courses. Regular users were defined as individuals who reported that they regularly went to the dentist with or without perceived dental problems. Demographic, socioeconomic and oral health variables were collected to test factors associated with the regular use of dental services. Statistical analyzes were based on Poisson regression models. This study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Pelotas. Each participant obtained a Free and Informed Consent Term (TCLE). The prevalence of regular use of dental services was 45.0% (95% CI 42.7-47.3). The students with a high social class (p = 0.025), that the site of the last dental appointment was private (p = 0.027), who self-perceived their oral health positively (p <0.001) and did not report toothache in the last 6 months (p = 0.023) showed higher prevalence of regular use of dental services. The results point to inequalities in the regular use of dental services related to socioeconomic factors and lower use among university students with worse oral health conditions. These outcomes suggest that public health prevention and promotion policies in higher education institutions should be carried out.