Dental care habits in patients seen for toothache in an Emergency Unit
Section: Health and quality of life
How to quote
Uhden Layron E. Hábitos de salud bucodental los pacientes atendidos por dolor dental en un dispositivo de urgencias. Metas Enferm dic 2014/ene 2015; 17(10): 58-63.
Authors
Eduardo Uhden Layron
Position
Licenciado en Psicología Clínica y Diplomado en Enfermería. Dispositivo de Cuidados Críticos y Urgencias. Distrito de Atención Primaria Sevilla. Servicio Andaluz de Salud. Sevilla.
Contact address
C/ Severo Ochoa, 3. 41807 Espartinas (Sevilla).
Contact email: eduardo@uhden.es
Abstract
Objective: to describe dental care habits of those patients seen for toothache in a Critical Care and Emergency Unit.
Materials and method: transversal descriptive study in a sample of 399 patients with toothache (5% accuracy, 95.5% confidence level, 50% expected proportion), who were seen at the Critical Care and Emergency Unit (CCEU) in Torreblanca (Seville). A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection, which had been prepared specifically for this study, and included sociodemographical variables, pain characteristics and management, dietary habits, smoking, and coffee and alcohol intake. For data treatment and analysis, descriptive statistic rates were estimated based on the nature of variables.
Results: 399 patients were studied. 88% of these claimed to suffer the maximum pain level (between 7 and 10). 92% of them were self-administering painkillers unsupervised by any professional. 92.2% of these patients did not see their dentist on a regular basis. 45.9% of them smoked, and 59.6% were habitual drinkers. 69.7% of the patients drank coffee regularly, while only 27.3% and 30.2% ate vegetables and fruit every day, respectively. 22.5% of these patients claimed “they looked after their teeth”. Only 27.3% brushed their teeth every day, 7.3% flossed their teeth and 44.1% used mouthwash regularly.
Conclusions: the knowledge by the population regarding dental health is still insufficient. There is a high prevalence of risk factors for dental health among the population studied. Healthcare centre managers and healthcare professionals must work in order to promote healthy life habits, and an improvement in dental hygiene, through health education and in each intervention for their patients.
Keywords:
Toothache; dental health; Life habits; emergencies; research; Descriptive Study
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