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Table 1 Oral Health literacy according to sample characteristics, Piracicaba, Brazil, 2010

From: Oral health literacy and oral health outcomes in an adult population in Brazil

Variables

Low oral health literacy n (%)

High oral health literacy n (%)

Odds ratio (95% CI)

p value

Age (years)

45–64

83 (71.5)

27 (28.5)

1.84 (0.97–3.46)

0.061

20–44

84 (62.7)

54 (37.3)

1

 

Sex

Male

47 (68.3)

23 (31.7)

1.28 (0.64–2.50)

0.480

Female

121 (73.2)

58 (26.8)

1

 

Social class

Lower

30 (71.5)

8 (28.5)

4.71 (1.43–15.46)

0.012

Lower middle

121 (74.8)

46 (25.2)

3.95 (1.84–8.49)

0.001

Middle

16 (42.9)

27 (57.1)

1

 

Service used

Public

39 (68.7)

16 (31.3)

0.71 (0.33–1.55)

0.378

Insurance

41 (66.0)

17 (34.0)

0.63 (0.22–1.83)

0.383

Private

85 (75.5)

46 (24.5)

1

 

Service evaluation

Not Good

29 (85.9)

6 (14.1)

2.64 (0.97–7.16)

0.056

Good

136 (69.8)

74 (30.2)

1

 

Frequency of dental visits

Emergency

102 (81.8)

30 (18.2)

3.04 (1.60–5.80)

0.001

Regularly

62 (59.7)

51 (40.3)

  

Reason for the use of dental services

Pain

44 (85.4)

11 (14.6)

3.27 (1.56–6.82)

0.003

Need

39 (75.1)

15 (24.9)

1.68 (0.66–4.27)

0.265

Routine

78 (64.2)

53 (35.8)

  

Tooth brushing

≤2 per day

68 (71.5)

21 (28.5)

2.12 (1.00–4.47)

0.050

3+ per day

99 (66.4)

60 (33.6)

1

 

Tooth flossing

irregularly

109 (71.5)

39 (28.5)

1.55 (0.84–2.89)

0.158

regularly

58 (66.0)

42 (34.0)

1

 

Impact on OHRQoL

Yes

89 (71.5)

26 (18.6)

2.65 (1.19–5.89)

0.018

No

78 (62.3)

55 (37.7)

1

 

Decayed teeth

Yes

69 (79.8)

22 (20.2)

1.95 (1.00–3.79)

0.031

No

98 (67.0)

59 (33.0)

1

 

Missing teeth

More than 13 teeth

45 (80.2)

13 (19.8)

0.55 (0.23–1.36)

0.188

Up to 12, including anterior teeth

39 (56.7)

23 (43.3)

1.00 (0.41–2.47)

0.996

Up to 12, including posterior teeth

42 (80.2)

15 (19.2)

0.32 (0.10–1.04)

0.058

No

41 (69.0)

29 (31.0)

  

Filled teeth

Yes

140 (70.0)

72 (30.0)

1.89 (0.74–4.81)

0.177

No

27 (81.5)

9 (18.5)

1

 

CAL > 4 mm

Yes

20 (25.6)

62 (74.4)

1.28 (0.66–2.52)

0.450

No

105 (69.4)

61 (30.6)

1

 

Dental plaque

Yes

77 (78.7)

24 (21.3)

1.90 (0.90–4.01)

0.090

No

85 (66.1)

56 (33.9)

1

 

Bleeding gum

Yes

86 (68.6)

45 (31.4)

1.36 (0.83–2.23)

0.214

No

81 (74.8)

36 (25.2)

1

 
  1. OHRQoL Oral Health Related Quality of Life, CAL Clinical Attachment Loss, CI Confidence Interval
  2. Bold numbers represent significant p values