Tooth Loss in Indian Elderly People of the Brazilian Northeast

In over 500 years of history contact of indigenous groups in Brazil with the non-indigenous society, many were the socioeconomic and cultural changes experienced as a result of this process. These changes occurred in different ways according to the indigenous group and its context of life, leading to changes in oral health. Although this, few studies analysis the tooth loss, denture use and need of this population. The aim of this study was to analyze tooth loss in adults older 60 years-old from an indigenous population called Xukuru of Ororubá, Northeast Brazil. Was conducted a population-based cross-sectional study in a sample of 233 Indians in march of 2010. Data on sociodemographic variables (age and sex) were collected using a structured questionnaire. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected through oral examination. The dependent variable was the edentulism (absence of all teeth) and the independent variables were sex, age, place of residence and self-perception of oral health. After the descriptive analysis performed by means of frequency distributions and measures of central tendency were built logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios and their confidence intervals of 95%. The study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee. The prevalence of edentulism was 49.8% (43.3% ~ 56.2%). The locality and age were not significantly associated with tooth loss. The female has increased 2.5 times the chance of tooth loss (p <0.01). The study showed that tooth loss in the elderly is an important public health problem in this ethnic group. The prevalence was high and the results point to a sex issue involved. Oral health policies need to be implemented for the rehabilitation of these individuals.