Adolescent oral health: odontological needs raised by community health agents

Objective: To present epidemiological data on adolescents oral health, collected by Community Health Agents (CHA) using Community Oral Health Indicator (COHI) in a city of Ceará State, Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in Guaiúba-CE from July, 2007 to February, 2008. Community health agents collected data using the COHI. The COHI evaluates the masticatory capacity (number of teeth); the need of restorative care (dental cavities and residual roots); presence of soft tissue injury; use and need of dental prosthesis. It allows giving priority care to the patients with greater needs by means of a list of signs related to oral health problems. A total of 743 adolescents were examined. Results: adolescents had 26.14 ± 3.61 teeth on average; 129 (17.4%) did not present cavities, 301 (40.5%) had one or two, 223 (30.0%), had three or more; 110 (14.8%) presented residual root, 121 (25.7%) tartar, 74 (10.0%) sore gums, 15 (2.0%) oral tissues injuries; 49 (6.6%) required prosthesis; 694 (93.4%) used toothbrush; and 281 (51.3%) had visited the dentist last year. It was detected an association between visit to the dentist in the last year and gender (p = 0, 0001), and between age below 12 and having three or more cavities (p = 0.023). Conclusion: Collected data demonstrated low oral health indicators among teenagers. It was noted that those aged under 12 present oral health indicators worse than the older ones, which demands public policies concerning such reality. Data suggests that COHI is suitable for epidemiological surveys.