Association between Sense of Coherence and Dental Caries Experience in Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association between sense of coherence and dental caries experience in adolescents. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 adolescents aged 11 to 15 years old who were attending the Debora Feijo State School in the city of Recife (Brazil). Information was collected on socio-demographic data – age, gender, school failure and number of residents per home. Sense of coherence (SOC) was evaluated using the SOC-13 questionnaire and the dental caries experience was determined using the DMFT index. For statistical analysis, the correlation test of Spearman and the association tests of Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis were used. The significance level was set at 5% (p<0.05). Results: A negative correlation was observed between the SOC and DMFT index (p < 0.001) which indicates that the higher the SOC, the lesser the DMFT. The mean SOC score was greater among adolescents with no dental caries experience. The SOC score was lower among those who failed school more often and those who lived with a greater number of people. Conclusion: The SOC-13 questionnaire can be considered a positive predictor of oral health status, representing an important tool in the establishment of health promotion actions focused on adolescents.