Tooth pain and associated factors among adolescents of a large population municipality in Northeastern Brazil

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze history of toothache and associated factors among adolescent students enrolled in public schools of a city in Northeastern Brazil. An observational, descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted through the application of 4 questionnaires with 458 adolescents. By bivariate analysis, the prevalence of toothache in life was higher among younger adolescents (76.9%; p = 0.004), who have visited the dentist at least once (74.8%; p = 0.001) and who reported fear (74.9%; p = 0.006). The occurrence of dental pain in the last 6 months was low, where male (77.4%; p = 0,001) and older adolescents (73.1%; p = 0.031) reported no occurrence of pain. Through multivariate analysis, the highest prevalence of dental pain in life remained among younger adolescents (76.9%; p = 0.003) and who reported dental fear (74.9%; p = 0.006). The prevalence of toothache in the last 6 months remained low through multivariate analysis, among male and older adolescents. It could be concluded that the prevalence of toothache in life was higher than in the last 6 months, showing significant association with gender, age, visit to the dentist and dental fear.