Its impact on the quality of life of Recife's young population and their families was measured by Faculdade de Odontologia (FOP/UPE) professor, Paulo Sávio Góes. His research, which served as basis for the Doctorate's thesis he defended at London University, shows, among other things, that every six months the Recife population misses up to an average of 15 thousand nights of sleep due to toothache. In addition, 3.5 thousand days of work are compromised, in the same period, due to the problem.
The projections performed with the data revealed also indicate that, at least 26 thousand students who live in the Capital city had or will have toothache at least once. Out of these, 14 thousand were victims of the problem in the last six months and half this contingent was prevented from performing some routine activity because of the pain.
The study conducted by Paulo Góes, who coordinates the researches from Centro de Dor Orofacial da FOP (the sole one in the North and Northeast), considered a sample of 1,502 students, between 14 and 15 years of age, from thirty public and private schools in the different Recife areas. In total, 750 families from these students also responded to the questionnaires applied. The result surprised the researcher. Out of the total number of adolescents who participated of the study, 33% had toothache in the last six months and 14% within the last four weeks.
What calls the most attention from the professor is the repercussion that the toothache has on the routine of young people and their families. At least 14.5% of the percentage who felt pain in the last six months were prevented form performing some daily activity because of the problem. This included games with friends, sports practice and school attendance. Out of these, 8.6% effectively missed school and 21.7% out of the ones who were able to attend school, had problems to maintain the concentration during the studies.
The student Victor José Cavalcanti, 14 years old, is among the ones who missed class because of toothache. He has an included tooth who caused him to go through surgery for the placement of an orthodontic brace which will allow the tooth tractioning. "The treatment is long and is expected to last for two years", says the dentist Christianne Lacet, from the Centro de Aperfeiçoamento Odontológico de Pernambuco (Odonto-Cape), who follows up the boy's treatment. "Problems on the tempero-mandibular joint, third molar eruption and factors which require root canal are the main causes of toothache among the younger people", says the expert. Under treatment for four months, Victor still has not gotten rid of the pain medications. "I take pain killers and anti-inflammatory medications", he says.
Another important data of professor Paulo Góes' research is that 4.6% of the parents of the analyzed teenagers lose at least one day of work at every six months because of their children toothache. And 9.3% of them spend some amount of the domestic budget on the purchase of medication to try to remedy the problem. "Toothache is a neglected epidemics", says the researcher. According to him, the study also showed that the problem - usually a consequence of decays and gum diseases - reaches more the less favored range of the population. "The poorest students have 1.6 more toothache than the ones with a higher social economical status", remembered. The association between oral diseases and life condition of the population are, in the professor's opinion, clearly confirmed by the research.
The oral diseases are not closed in themselves, in the expert's opinion. They bring large consequences for the population in general and specifically to the youngsters. "The effect of the tooth loss or defects on the arches on the individual's self-esteem, for example, is visible", reports. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that 72% of the tooth loss cases in adults happen because of decay. The WHO's goal is to make people get at least to 35 years of age, with all teeth in their mouth. This is a quite difficult goal in poor countries such as Brazil and with (still) insufficient oral health prevention programs, which involve correct and periodic brushing, use of dental floss and visits to the dentist every six months.
Source: Jornal Diário de Pernambuco.
