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rev port estomatol med dent cir maxilofac . 2018;59(1):18-23 19

Comportamentos de saúde oral e cárie dentária numa amostra
de militares portugueses

r e s u m o

Palavras-chave: Objetivos: Determinar a prevalência de cárie dentária e os comportamentos de saúde oral
Pessoal militar numa amostra de militares portugueses.
Cárie dentária Métodos: Foi realizado um estudo observacional transversal numa amostra de 122 militares
Placa dentária do Regimento de Infantaria n.º 14 de Viseu, Portugal, através da aplicação de um questioná-
Saúde oral rio. O questionário incidia sobre os comportamentos de saúde oral, com especial foco na
Higiene Oral frequência de escovagem dentária, uso de fio dentário e frequência de visitas ao Médico
Dentista. Também foram recolhidas informações sociodemográficas, como a idade e o gé-
nero. Além disso, foi feita observação intraoral para determinar o índice de CPOD. O índice
de placa de Silness and Löe (1964) foi usado para determinar a quantidade de placa bacte-
riana existente na amostra estudada.
Resultados: A prevalência de cárie dentária encontrada foi elevada (51,6%±7,4%; CPOD –
4,6±3,5). De acordo com o índice de placa de Silness and Löe a prevalência mais elevada
correspondeu ao nível 2 – placa visível (58,2%). Relativamente aos hábitos de higiene oral, a
maioria (65,6%) reportou que escova os dentes pelo menos duas vezes por dia e 64,8% usava
pasta dentífrica com flúor. No entanto, muito poucos participantes (18%) usavam fio dentá-
rio. Mais de 30% dos participantes não visitaram o médico dentista no último ano e cerca
de 45,9% eram fumadores.
Conclusão: É necessária a criação e adoção de programas de prevenção e ações de promoção
de saúde oral junto desta população, de modo a reduzir a prevalência de cárie dentária e
aumentar o conhecimento dos militares sobre os comportamentos de saúde oral mais in-
dicados. (Rev Port Estomatol Med Dent Cir Maxilofac. 2018;59(1):18-23)
© 2018 Sociedade Portuguesa de Estomatologia e Medicina Dentária.
Publicado por SPEMD. Este é um artigo Open Access sob uma licença CC BY-NC-ND
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

urgent dental interventions, fewer absences from training and
Introduction
battlefield events and decreased threats to the security of the
1
10
Oral health is considered an important part of general health. whole unit formation. However, to maintain good oral health,
Therefore, data obtained from oral-health surveys is impor- adherence to optimal oral-hygiene behaviors is essential. 11
tant to identify groups that are more susceptible to oral dis- To our knowledge, there are very few studies about Portu-
eases, in order to develop prevention strategies, specific guese military population’s oral health published in the scien-
2
12
health programs and dental care. Thus, oral health among tific literature. However, there are some studies on the Por-
the military population is a significant component not only of tuguese military population’s oral health published in poster
their general health but also of their military performance, format or thesis. 13-17
since it influences their health status and their ability to per- The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of
form their duties. 3,4 dental caries and the oral-health behaviors in a sample of the
Consequently, military personnel’s oral health has a signifi- Portuguese army population.
cant impact on military operations since untreated oral condi-
tions can result in increased rates of disease and non-battle inju-
5
ries among deployed soldiers. In addition, the military personnel’s Material and methods
dental wellness and readiness are important not only for imme-
diate deployment but also for their well-being during non-deploy- An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in a
ment. Thus, a fundamental purpose of military dental services sample of army soldiers of the Infantry Regiment no. 14 of
6
is to ensure that the operational effectiveness of soldiers is not Viseu, Portugal, using a questionnaire (Appendix 1). The au-
7
compromised by oral diseases or disability during deployments thors delivered the questionnaires to the militaries, who an-
and to enable operational readiness at the optimum level. 3 swered them autonomously. The questionnaire enquired
It is worth to mention that the improvement of oral health about general oral-health behaviors but focused mainly on: i)
and its impact on mental and physical health is among the frequency of toothbrushing, ii) use of dental floss and iii) fre-
major objectives of the World Health Organization (WHO) for quency of dental appointments. It also asked about sociode-
8,9
2020. Good oral health would lead to a reduced number of mographic information, like age and gender.