Oral health of quilombola and non-quilombola rural adolescents: a study of hygiene habits and associated factors

Abstract This study evaluated oral hygiene habits and their association with sociocultural, environmental factors and factors related to the use of dental services among Quilombola and non-Quilombola rural adolescents from inland Bahia. Thiswas a cross-sectional study conducted in 2015. Prevalence and prevalence ratios were estimated for the outcomes and multiple Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was performed. We interviewed 390 adolescents, of which 42.8% were Quilombola. Poor tooth brushing and non-flossing were found in 33.3% and 46.7% of adolescents, respectively. Poor tooth brushing was increased by male gender (PR = 1.45), not living with both parents (PR = 1.45), lower hand hygiene habit (PR = 1.72) and worse oral health self-assessment (PR = 1.38). Non-flossing was associated with economic level E (PR = 1.54), older age (PR = 0.91), lower hand hygiene habit (PR = 1.53) and worse oral health self-assessment (PR = 1.33). Different associated factors were observed between Quilombola and non-Quilombola. It is necessary to consider the specificities of the populations for the promotion of adolescent oral health and the importance of the intersectoriality between education and health and care to families.