Avaliação da metodologia em publicações descrevendo o projeto epidemiológico para pesquisa odontológica: uma análise crítica / Evaluation of the methodology in publications describing epidemiological design for dental research: a critical analysis

Introdução e objetivo: Descrever, analisar e revisar criticamente a metodologia empregada na pesquisa epidemiológica odontológica disponível em bases de dados eletrônicas, avaliando suas estruturas segundo a iniciativa Strobe e Consort. Material e métodos: As bases de dados eletrônicas ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus e Pubmed foram selecionadas para pesquisa de literatura, reunindo publicações na área epidemiológica odontológica usando os seguintes desenhos: transversal, coorte, caso-controle, descritivo, experimental e quase-experimental . Posteriormente, cinco periódicos específicos da área odontológica foram selecionados e tiveram seus resumos analisados ​​pelo critério Strobe and Consort statement. Resultados: De um universo de 10.160 artigos do Pubmed (o maior número), apenas 3.198 puderam ser classificados de acordo com seu desenho epidemiológico pela ferramenta de busca eletrônica em banco de dados. Os delineamentos mais comuns foram publicações transversais, coorte, caso-controle, descritivas, experimentais e quase-experimentais, mostrando uma tendência à ocorrência de vieses e fatores de confusão na pesquisa da literatura devido à falta de palavras na estrutura dos artigos. Embora as iniciativas Consort e Strobe tenham sido realizadas desde 2001 e 2004, respectivamente, algumas publicações não são adequadas para sua lista de verificação. Conclusão: As declarações Consort e Strobe devem ser reforçadas por periódicos odontológicos, editores e revisores para melhorar a qualidade dos estudos, tentando evitar qualquer tipo de viés ou fatores de confusão na pesquisa de literatura realizada por banco de dados eletrônico

Introduction and objective: To describe, analyze, and critically review the methodology employed in dental epidemiological research available on electronic databases, evaluating their structures according to Strobe and Consort initiative. Material and methods: ISI Web of knowledge, Scopus, and Pubmed electronic databases were selected for literature research, gathering publications in dental epidemiological area using the following designs: cross-sectional, cohort, case-control, descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental. Subsequently, five specific dentistry journals were selected and had their abstracts content analyzed under Strobe and Consort statement criterion. Results: From a universe of 10,160 articles from Pubmed (the greatest number), only 3,198 could be classified according to their epidemiological design by the electronic database searching tool. The most common designs were cross-sectional, cohort, case-control, descriptive, experimental and quasi-experimental publications, showing a tendency towards occurring bias and confounding factors in literature research due to missing words in papers structure. Even though Consort and Strobe initiatives have been accomplished since 2001 and 2004 respectively, some publications are not suitable for their checklist. Conclusion: Consort and Strobe statements must be strengthened by dental journals, editors and reviewers to improve the quality of the studies, attempting to avoid any sort of bias or confounding factors in the literature research performed by electronic database.

Trends in caries experience and fluorosis prevalence in 11- to 12-year-old Brazilian children between 1991 and 2004.

UNLABELLED: Investigating dental caries and fluorosis prevalence over time is an important measure for monitoring trends in oral health. PURPOSE: This work aimed to describe the prevalence of dental caries and dental fluorosis of 11- to 12-year-old schoolchildren from Iracemapolis, Brazil, in 2004 (n=236) and to compare the current prevalence rates with those from previous surveys carried out in 1991 (n=200), 1995 (n=160), 1997 (n=314) and 2001 (n=244). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The schoolchildren of both genders from all public schools were examined by two calibrated dentists (Kappa > 0.81), using dental probes and buccal mirrors under natural light in an outdoor setting. Dental caries and fluorosis were measured using the DMFT and Thylstrup-Fejerskov (T-F) indexes, respectively. The variation of DMFT index over time was assessed by analysis of regression and the fluorosis prevalence (T-F>1) was compared over time by the Chi-square test at 5% significance level. RESULTS: In 2004, the mean value for DMFT was 1.2; 50% of the children were caries-free, and 15.7% presented dental fluorosis (T-F>1). A significant caries reduction (82.1%) and a significant increase (685%) of fluorosis prevalence have been observed from 1991 to 2004 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The results suggest a continuous decrease of dental caries experience and an increase of dental fluorosis prevalence in 11-to 12-year-old schoolchildren from this Brazilian town as well as indicate that further epidemiological surveys should be carried out in order to monitor these trends.