Oral Health Status of Brazilian Workers of a Textile Industry

Objective: To evaluate the oral health status of Brazilian workers of a textile industry. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study including 489 individuals of both sexes was performed. Data on gender, age, schooling, frequency of dentist visits and caries experience (DMFT) were collected by a single trained and calibrated examiner. Data were organized using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and presented through descriptive and inferential statistics (Poisson Regression Analysis). The significance level was 5%. Results: There was predominance of female workers (57.7%) aged 30-39 years (44.6%) and with 9-11 years of schooling (79.7%). Almost all of them had visited the dentist at least once in their lifetime (99.6%), and 66.8% had done so in the last 12 months. The mean DMFT value was 11.14 (± 5.64), with higher participation of filled (6.21) and missing components (4.03). There was a statistically significant association between DMFT values (≤ 11 and ≥ 12) and age group (p <0.001), as well as between schooling and number of missing (p <0.001) and decayed teeth (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The mean DMFT of Brazilian workers is high, with a tendency to increase the number of missing teeth as age increases. Schooling was associated with the number of missing and filled teeth.