Study goals
To analyze the oral health situation of schoolchildren and the correlation of absenteeism in scheduled appointments with some determining factors in the oral health process, such as geographical location, employment situation in the labor market and education of the person responsible for the family.
Relevance / originality
This research is relevant because it analyzes the prevalence of caries in schoolchildren and correlates the low demand for the service after screening carried out in a school environment with some socioeconomic factors that aggravate the evolution process of caries disease, since the problem causes damage to the population's health , reduces access and generates costs for management, and must be analyzed and managed through strategies aimed at reducing absenteeism, which consequently will reflect on the prevalence of caries and / or other oral health problems.
Methodology / approach
Ecological, longitudinal study with descriptive and analytical approach. Data collection was carried out previously through individual oral health assessments carried out in schools in the unit's territory agreed by the municipality, following the criteria of the Health at School Program. The analyzes will be carried out in a grouped manner by school unit, correlating the prevalence of caries with absenteeism in dental appointments.
Main results
The correlations carried out in this study demonstrated that the prevalence of caries was not exclusively associated with geographic issues, the situation of the person responsible in the labor market and education, as both the population that lives near the basic health unit and the one that lives farthest from the unit presented high dental absenteeism rates, that is, the demand for the service by the population in question was low. The family's work situation and schooling also did not influence the demand for the scheduled service.
Theoretical / methodological contributions
The following article contributes to the expansion of the subject in the academic community, as well as a guiding point for future more in-depth research in the area, since dental absenteeism generates losses from different perspectives.
Social / management contributions
Provide indicators that assist and subsidize management for planning dental care, with regard to both collective actions and the management of individual professionals' care schedules.