Discrimination and dental students: What is the reality in Brazilian institutions?

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate whether there is discrimination in the dental educational environment, assess the main reasons for the discriminatory events, and if there is an association between discriminatory episodes and sociodemographic characteristics of undergraduate dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire to students enrolled in three Brazilian dental schools. Questions included sociodemographic characteristics and the occurrence of discriminatory episodes in the dental academic environment. Descriptive analysis was performed in RStudio 1.3 (R Core Team, RStudio, Inc., Boston, USA) software and the associations were tested using Pearson's chi-square test, considering 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: A total of 732 dental students were included, with a response rate of 70.2%. The vast majority of students were female (66.9%), with white/yellow skin colour (67.9%), and with a mean age of 22.6 (SD 4.1) years. Sixth-eight percent of students reported having experienced some discrimination in the academic environment and most reported feeling uncomfortable with the episode. The main reasons to have been discriminated against raised by students were specific behaviour/habit, have specific moral, ethical, and aesthetic values, gender, and socioeconomic status or social class. The occurrence of discriminatory episodes was associated with female gender (p = .05), non-heterosexual sexual orientation (p < .001), studying in public institutions (p < .001), receiving an institutional scholarship (p = .018), and being in the final undergraduate cycle (p < .001). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of discriminatory episodes was common in Brazilian dental higher education. Discriminatory situations generate traumas and psychological marks, causing a loss of diversity within the academic environment that leads to loss of productivity, creativity, and innovation. Thus, strong institutional policies against discrimination are crucial to create a healthy dental academic environment.

Restorations in primary teeth: a systematic review on survival and reasons for failures.

BACKGROUND: Several restorative materials with specific indications are used for filling cavities in primary teeth. AIM: To systematically review the literature in order to investigate the longevity of primary teeth restorations and the reasons for failure. DESIGN: Electronic databases were screened, and eligible studies were hand-searched to find longitudinal clinical studies evaluating the survival of restorations (class I, class II, and crown) placed with different materials in primary teeth with at least one year of follow-up. RESULTS: Thirty-one studies were included, and a high bias risk was observed. Overall, 12,047 restorations were evaluated with 12.5% of failure rate. A high variation on annual failure rate (AFR) was detected (0-29.9%). Composite resin showed the lowest AFRs (1.7-12.9%). Stainless steel crowns (SSC) had the highest success rate (96.1%). Class I restorations and restorations placed using rubber dam presented better AFR. The main reason for failure observed was secondary caries (36.5%). CONCLUSIONS: An elevated number of failures were observed due to recurrent caries, highlighting the need for professionals to work with a health-promoting approach. The high variation on failure rate among the materials can be due to children's behavior during the procedure, which demands short dental appointments and a controlled environment.

Gender inequalities in the dental science: An analysis of high impact publications.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the participation of women in publications of dental journals with a high impact factor. METHODS: Articles published in 2016, 2011, and 2006 in 10 dental journals chosen for their highest impact factors in each dental fields were included in this research. Articles-related variables collected included the country of origin of each author, the type of study, and gender of the researchers. Gender was examined through PubMed, Scopus, ResearchGate, and respective affiliated institutions. Furthermore, a website designed to discover the gender of names was used when the previous alternatives were not conclusive. Forward stepwise Poisson regression models were used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 3365 studies were included in the first authorship analysis and 3398 in analysis related to last authorship. The prevalence of women as first authors was 37.2% (confidence interval (CI) 95% 34.5-37.5) and as last authors was 22.6% (CI 95% 21.3-23.9). Having a woman as the last author increased the presence of women in the first author position in scientific dental articles by 16% (prevalence ratio = 1.16, CI 95% [1.04-1.29]). The year of publication, journal, and region of the author were associated with an increase in the prevalence of women as last authors. From 2006 to 2016, the prevalence of women as last authors increased by 61%. Despite these trends, women were still underrepresented in science in the evaluated period. CONCLUSIONS: There are meaningful gender inequalities in publications of scientific dental papers. Encouraging women to lead research groups can reduce the inequities observed in the present study.

Nonuse of dental service by schoolchildren in Southern Brazil: impact of socioeconomics, behavioral and clinical factors.

OBJECTIVES: To assess clinical, behavioral and socioeconomic factors associated with nonuse of dental services by schoolchildren. METHODS: A cross-sectional school-based study with 1211 children aged 8-12 years was carried out in Pelotas, Brazil. The outcome (never having had a dental appointment) and independent variables were collected through interview with parents and children, including sex, age, parent's schooling, family income, self-perception about oral health, and dental fear. Dental caries was assessed by clinical examination performed at schools. RESULTS: 291 (24.3 %; 95 % CI 22.0-26.9) of the children had never visited a dentist. Multivariate Poisson regression analysis showed that the outcome was associated with children from mothers with little education (≤0.001), from public schools (≤0.001), from crowded households (≤0.001), who had no caries (≤0.001), who had dental fear (≤0.001), and who started oral hygiene later (0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the extensive increase in oral health coverage, especially in the public system in the last years in Brazil, there is still an unassisted portion of the population of schoolchildren. It was observed that socioeconomic, behavioral, and clinical factors influenced the nonuse of dental services.

Oral mucosal lesions' impact on oral health-related quality of life in preschool children.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions and their impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children aged 5 years. METHODS: A sample of 1118 children from Pelotas' birth cohort, born in 2004 (response rate of 85.8%), were selected to participate in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire applied to mothers and from the oral examinations of the children. OML were identified by type, site, and size. Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) was used to assess caregivers' perception on children's OHRQoL. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate Poisson regression analyses were carried out, considering the impact on OHRQoL (total ECOHIS score) as the outcome. RESULTS: The prevalence of the OML was 30.1% (95% CI 27.5-32.9). Ulcers were the more prevalent type of lesion (29.4%), and the most affected site was the gums (31.0%). In bivariate analysis, there was a positive association between the presence of OML and OHRQoL impact measured by the following: mean overall score of ECOHIS (P < 0.001); extent (P < 0.001); prevalence (P = 0.030); and intensity (P = 0.010). After adjustments for sociodemographic and oral health variables, children with OML presented higher impact on OHRQoL [rate ratio (RR) 1.38 95% CI 1.11; 1.72] comparing with their counterparts. Analyzing specific domains, children with OML also presented higher impact on children symptoms (RR 1.46 95% CI 1.20; 1.66) and family functional (RR 3.14 95% CI 1.59; 6.22) domains. CONCLUSION: Almost one-third of children presented with oral mucosal lesions, and these lesions impaired children's oral health-related quality of life.