Impacto da saúde bucal na qualidade de vida de graduandos de Odontologia de uma instituição pública federal.

Abstract

Impact of oral health on the quality of life of dental students from a federal public institution. The quality of life is related to several factors, and oral health is an aspect that has been taken into consideration. The present study aimed to verify the impact of oral health on the quality of life of undergraduate dentistry students of the Federal University of Campina Grande. The sample was composed of 252 scholars, for the evaluation of the quality of life related to oral health, the Oral Health Impact Profile was used, in its reduced version (OHIP-14). The majority of the undergraduates (95.2%) presented oral health impact on the quality of life, being the items which presented greater prevalence in the report those related to mouth pain (OHIP-3) and discomfort when eating certain foods (OHIP-4). The prevalence of the impact was greater in the domain concerning the physical pain (89.7%). Statistical significance was found between the gender and the oral health impact on the quality of life, where the majority of the male gender (p=0.04) reported to present a greater impact. When associated the gender and the OHIP domain psychological incapacity (OHIP-9 and 10), greater prevalence of impact was found in the male gender (p=0.009). It is possible to conclude that the presence of the oral health impact in specific sub-groups which require, however, early and multidisciplinary interventions.