Caracterização da saúde oral numa amostra de militares da Base Naval de Lisboa

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Portuguese Military oral health care system (ADM) is an asset to the military. One of the military duties is the duty to availability and permanent readiness for service, for which they need physical and mental health fitness. The military of the Portuguese Navy (MGP), when navigating, have no access to the same treatments as in land. Thereby making periodic medical examinations is an essential tool for preventing possible emergencies on board. The oral health and the eating habits that make up the diet of a military have direct effects on their health. It is up to naval dentists to maintain a certain level of oral health of the military to avoid any dental emergencies in sea. It is also important to monitor their oral hygiene and dietary habits in order to improve their oral health. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to characterize the oral health of a Portuguese navy sample from the Naval Base of Lisbon. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An epidemiological observational cross-sectional study was conducted with a final sample of 278 participants. The average age was 31 years (standard deviation 8.6), and 91.7% belonged to the male gender and 8.3% to the female gender. Questionnaires were made about the oral health habits, eating habits and habits in sea. Intraoral observations were also made filling the decayed, missing and filled teeth index (DMFT index) and Silness and Loe index, using the intraoral exploration kits. Statistical analysis was performed using the R program (2.15.2 version). RESULTS: It was observed that the DMFT index was 8.46. For the Silness and Loe index was observed a higher prevalence of scores 2 (moderate accumulation of dental plaque at the gingival margin) and 3 (abundant dental plaque in the gingival margin and tooth surface). It was found that most military (71.7%) brushed their teeth daily two or more times a day. About 42.8% used dental floss. Also most of the military (81.7%) made regular dental check-ups required once a year, and the remaining made two or more times a year. It was also found that most military (90.3%) characterized medical naval dentists in a positive manner. About half (52.9%) did a dental cleaning less than a year ago. Only 9% of the military used removable prosthesis. It was found that the prevalence of smoking was 31.3% and alcohol consumption was 66.8%. About 11.2% felt their roles diminished by dental reasons and 33.1% have felt constrained due to oral health problems. The consumption of sugary foods covered 71.2% of the military. For the navigation periods, half of the military (50%) felt that their eating habits became worse, 9% of the military have had a dental emergency, 26.5% considered that the navigation affected their oral health, and 10.4% refered as the main reason of poorer oral health the lack of time due to changing of timetables. The number of individuals who did not brush their teeth everyday increased slightly (from 1.8% to 3.4%). CONCLUSION: The military of MGP have good oral health and good oral hygiene habits when compared with military of other countries and the non-military Portuguese population. The dietary and oral hygiene habits were worse during navegation periods.

Date of Award	29 Jul 2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Nélio Jorge Veiga (Supervisor)