Dental visits among adolescents in Brazil: descriptive analysis of the National School Health Survey, 2019.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of dental visits among adolescents participating in the 2019 National School Health Survey (PeNSE).

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study analyzing dental visits in the last year considering sex, race/skin color, maternal education and dental pain. Only PeNSE 2019 participants between ages 13 and 15 years were included. Absolute and relative frequencies were verified using Pearson's Chi-square test, with a 5% confidence level (p-value<0.05) and the respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). As a secondary analysis, data on dental coverage in primary health care were collected and reported according to Brazilian regions.

Results: The prevalence of visits to the dentist in the last year was 66.7%; a higher prevalence was noted for adolescents who declared themselves white compared to black adolescents (71.8% versus 61.9%), for females (68.4%; 95%CI 67.27; 69.49), among students with toothache (69.4%; 95%CI 67.61; 71.10) and with mothers with higher education (77.9%; 95%CI 76.56; 79.18). Federative units with high dental coverage reported lower use of services, while those with lower coverage reported a higher proportion of visits to the dentist.

Conclusion: Among adolescents aged 13 to 15 years, a 66.7% prevalence of visits to the dentist in the last year was observed; higher prevalences of visits to the dentist were found among female adolescents, self-declared white, with mothers with higher education and with self-reported toothache. Furthermore, there was a lower prevalence of visits to the dentist in places with greater dental coverage.