Pain Perception Before Endodontic Treatment: from Primary Care to Specialized Care

Abstract Objective: To analyze patients' pain perception requiring endodontic treatment referred to a Dental Specialties Center. Material and Methods: Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire for patients about their experience of pain and another for endodontists about the treatment performed. The results were analyzed descriptively using Pearson's Chi-square test and Fisher's Exact test, with Bonferroni correction (p≤0.05). Results: The median age of the patients was 39 years, and 71.1% were female. The median waiting time for treatment was five months. Pain was reported by 75.2% of patients, occurred more than one month earlier (63.6%), with moderate/severe intensity (66.9%), and most patients sought emergency treatment more than once (79.1%). In addition, pain was associated with sex (female; p=0.008); moderate/severe intensity (p<0.001); the number of times that patient had to go to the dentist because of the tooth treatment (twice or more; p=0.002); and type of tooth treated (posterior tooth; p=0.002). Conclusion: Severe pain episodes resulted in a repeated search for emergency services, which may overload the primary care service, especially if the waiting time for endodontic treatment is long.

Análise das exodontias realizadas na atenção primária da Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte / Analysis of tooth extractions performed in the primary health care of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region

Objetivo: Analisar as exodontias de dentes permanentes (exodontia de dente permanente e múltipla com alveoloplastia por sextante) realizadas na atenção primária da Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte (RMBH). Métodos:Para a coleta de dados, foi utilizado o banco de dados da produtividade da atenção primária, da RMBH, ano de 2017, disponibilizado pelo Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). A variável dependente foi o indicador nº 21 do SUS, que corresponde ao percentual de exodontias realizadas dentre os procedimentos da atenção primária, cujo parâmetro deve ser ≤ 8% (≤ 8% e > 8%). As variáveis independentes foram: dados sociodemográficos (localização, população, Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano ­ IDH e Índice de Gini) e de saúde (cobertura de Estratégia de Saúde da Família ­ ESF e Equipes de Saúde Bucal ­ ESB e presença de Centro de Especialidades Odontológicas ­ CEO). Associações foram avaliadas por meio dos testes do Qui-Quadrado de Pearson e Exato de Fisher (p < 0,05), utilizando o programa SPSS 22.0. Resultados:Foram analisados 49 municípios, sendo 67,3% do núcleo metropolitano. A mediana populacional foi de 25.537 habitantes, com IDH médio de 0,707 e Índice de Gini mediano de 0,464. As medianas de cobertura da ESF e ESB foram, respectivamente, 96,7% e 52,7%. Apenas 32,7% dos municípios apresentaram CEO. O indicador nº 21 do SUS apresentou uma mediana de 6,7%. Não houve associação entre o indicador nº 21 do SUS e as variáveis sociodemográficas e de saúde (p > 0,05). Conclusão:A RMBH apresentou valores satisfatórios em relação ao percentual de exodontias realizadas, provavelmente devido aos bons indicadores socioeconômicos e de saúde bucal apresentados.

Aim: To analyze the extractions of permanent teeth (extraction of permanent teeth and extraction of multiple teeth with alveoloplasty per sextant), performed in a primary health care unit of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH). Methods:For data collection, the primary care productivity database of 2017 from MRBH, provided by the Department of Information Technology of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS in Portuguese), was used. The dependent variable was the SUS indicator number 21, which corresponds to the percentage of extractions performed among primary dental care procedures, whose parameter must be ≤ 8% ( ≤ 8% and > 8%). The independent variables were: sociodemographic data (location, population, Human Development Index (HDI), and Gini Index) and health (coverage of Family Health Strategy (FHS) and Oral Health Teams (OHT), as well as the presence of Dental Specialty Centers (DCS). Associations were evaluated using the Pearson's Chi-square and Fisher's Exact tests (p < 0.05), using the SPSS 22.0 program. Results: This study analyzed 49 municipalities, 67.3% of which were metropolitan areas. The median population was 25,537 inhabitants, with a mean HDI of 0.707 and a median Gini index of 0.464. The median coverage of ESF and ESB were 96.7% and 52.7%, respectively. Only 32.7% of the municipalities presented CEO. The SUS indicator number 21 presented a median of 6.7%. No association was found between the SUS indicator number 21 and the sociodemographic and health variables (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The MRBH presented satisfactory values in relation to the percentage of tooth extractions, most likely due to the good socioeconomic and oral health indicators presented.