Frequência de uso de creme dental segundo renda e escolaridade: uma revisão sistemática Frequency of toothpaste usage according to income and education: a systematic review

Objective – To review the empirical evidence on the relationship between the frequency of toothpaste use and the different levels of income and education. Through the observation of reduced rates of dental caries, much has been discussed about the factors associated with this phenomenon, including the social and behavioral factors. Knowing the risk factors for dental caries allows planning oral health care and refocusing the prevention costs according to the principle of equity. Methods – In Pubmed and Embase databases, two search strategies using the controlled vocabulary terms for cataloging of scientific articles were made. In the first search strategy, the words Dentifrice and Socioeconomic were used and all results were identified. In the second strategy, Dentifrice and Public Health descriptors were used and all published articles were identified resulting from the association of both words. The number of studies evaluated from the initial until the final search on the database, when articles were selected according to the objectives proposed, was quantitatively described for each search. The complete articles selected for reading were quantified by year of publication, type of study (transversal or longitudinal), the place where the study took place and the socioeconomic variable (income and education). For the analysis of the selected articles, the subject division in frequency of toothpaste use according to income and education was selected. Results and Conclusion – Based on the methodological procedures undertaken, and taking into account the studies published from 1963 to 2011, it was observed that only a few studies showed empirical evidence on the relationship between the frequency of toothpaste usage and levels of income and education. The empirical evidence supports the hypothesis that the frequency of toothpaste usage depends on the level of education of one parent or both, and the highest percentage of fluoride toothpaste users belongs tothose groups of higher income . Descriptors: Public Health; Toothpaste; Class social; Educational status