Oral health condition and the use of dental services among the older adults living in the rural area in the South of Brazil

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the oral health, the use of dental services and associated factors among individuals aged 60 years, or more, living in the rural area. Method: This is a popula-tion-based, cross-sectional study carried out in the rural area of a medium-sized municipality in the extreme south of Brazil. The outcome was to have used dental services in the 12 months before the date of the interview. The analysis included a description of the sample, prevalence of the use of dental services for each category of independent variables and multivariate analysis through Poisson Regression. Results: In total, 1,030 older adults were interviewed, of which 49.9% were totally edentulous patients, and 13.9% had dental visits in the last year. The probability of visits was higher in females, with a partner, higher schooling, of the highest economic levels and that reported some oral health problem. On the other hand, elderly who reported being former smokers or were current smokers had fewer visits. Conclu-sions: Health planning should be reorganized to prioritize population groups with more significant difficulties in the use of dental services.