Survey of Brazilian governmental health agencies shows conflicting recommendations concerning oral hygiene practices for children / Pesquisa com Secretarias de Saude no Brasil revela recomendacoes divergentes relacionadas a praticas de higiene bucal em criancas

ABSTRACT

The aims of this study were to detect whether recommendations concerning oral hygiene practices for children among Brazilian health agencies are consistent and to verify whether possible inconsistencies in these recommendations might be associated with an apparent gap in the scientific evidence. Fifty-four Brazilian health agencies were contacted by mail or electronic mail and were asked to send any material containing recommendations on oral hygiene practices aimed at children. A search was subsequently carried out on the Cochrane Oral Health Review Group and PubMed-Clinical Queries websites in order to assess the scientific evidence available on this subject. Forty (74 percent) agencies answered and 21 materials containing oral hygiene recommendations were obtained. Eleven pertinent systematic reviews were identified. This preliminary study detected some conflicting and not evidence-based oral hygiene messages, which emphasizes the need to carry out and disseminate systematic reviews on these controversial issues in order to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice.

RESUMO

Os objetivos deste estudo foram verificar se as recomendacoes fornecidas por orgaos governamentais brasileiros sobre higiene bucal em criancas sao consistentes e se possiveis inconsistencias nessas recomendacoes estao associadas a uma aparente falta de evidencia cientifica. Cinquenta e quatro orgaos governamentais brasileiros foram contatados por endereco eletronico ou postal. Foi solicitado que enviassem materiais contendo recomendacoes sobre praticas de higiene bucal para criancas. Em seguida, realizou-se uma busca nos sites Cochrane Oral Health Review Group e PubMed-Clinical Queries para avaliar a evidencia cientifica disponivel sobre o assunto. Quarenta (74 por cento) orgaos governamentais responderam e 21 materiais contendo recomendacoes sobre higiene bucal foram obtidos. Foram identificadas 11 revisoes sistematicas pertinentes. Este estudo preliminar detectou algumas recomendacoes divergentes e nao baseadas em evidencia cientifica, ressaltando a necessidade de se realizar revisoes sistematicas da literatura sobre esses topicos para aproximar a pesquisa cientifica da pratica clinica.