Oral health self-perception among adults at a primary healthcare unit

Oral health self-perception is the individual assessment of the oral conditions. Objective: To evaluate the oral health self-perception of adults and the factorsthat influence this perception. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a primary healthcare unit in São Luís, Maranhão. Data were collected through the administration of a not validated questionnaire and a clinical examination at the dental office. The outcome was oral health self-perception and the independent variables were age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, schooling, monthly household income, dental treatment, the conclusion of treatment, last type of service used, toothache in the previous six months, untreated dental caries, missing teeth, the DMFT index, root caries and removable partial denture. Descriptive statistics and the chi-square tests were performed with a 5% level of significance. Results: The sample was composed by 129 adults aged 25 to 55 years. The female gender (80.6%), brown skincolor (62.8%) and low income (55.8%) were the most prevalent independent variables. Ninety-three percent of the sample had undergone some type of dental treatment, but only 36.4% concluded treatment. Seventy-nine percent perceived their oral health as negative. No significant associations were found between a negative self-perception and the independent variables analyzed. Conclusion: Most of surveyed individuals had a negative self-perception of their oral health, however, the perception was not associated with any of the exploratory variables