Oral health of an indigenous population in northeastern Brazil: a cross-sectional Study of the Fulni-ô ethnic group.

BACKGROUND

There is a lack of studies evaluating the oral health of traditional indigenous communities in Brazil.

OBJECTIVES

Thus, the objective of this study was to describe the oral health characteristics of the indigenous Fulni-ô ethnic group in Northeast Brazil.

DESIGN AND SETTING

A cross-sectional observational investigation was conducted within the Project on Atherosclerosis among Indigenous Populations.

METHODS

This study included participants of both sexes from the Fulni-ô ethnic group. The participants included in this investigation underwent a comprehensive oral health evaluation by a registered and experienced dentist to assess oral health and identify potentially malignant oral lesions. Participants with suspicious lesions were referred for biopsy. Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney, and Student's t-tests were used, and measures of central tendency and dispersion were described. Statistical significance was 5%.

RESULTS

A total of 104 individuals were included in this study. The prevalence of the use of tobacco derivatives was 94.0%, with similarities between sexes. The prevalence of oral changes in this study population was 84.4%. Fifty-one individuals who underwent oral reassessment were referred for oral lesion biopsy.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated a high prevalence of oral alterations in the Fulni-ô population. Histopathological analyses indicated the presence of mild oral epithelial dysplasia in five cases.