Scientific output trends in oral health in Brazil

• Published in: Revista panamericana de salud pública Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 54 - 60
• Main Authors: Dias, Aldo Angelim, Narvai, Paulo Capel, Rêgo, Delane Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: United States 01-07-2008
• Subjects: Bibliometrics; Brazil; Humans; Oral Health; Brazil
• ISSN: 1020-4989
• DOI: 10.1590/S1020-49892008000700007

To describe dental research trends in Brazil (especially population-based oral health) in the early Twenty-first Century.
The abstracts of studies presented at meetings of the Brazilian Society for Dental Medicine Research (Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa Odontológica) from 2001- 2006 were assessed in terms of methodological design (aggregate or population-based and individual-based studies, observational and intervention studies, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies); general type (literature review, studies with human subjects, and laboratory studies); and classification into one of the 19 specialty categories recognized by the Brazilian Federal Dentistry Council. Of the 10 406 abstracts presented in this period, 5 203 (50%) were reviewed.
Concerning methodological design, 87.5% of the abstracts referred to individual-based studies, whereas 12.5% were of aggregate studies. Concerning the general category, 41.7% referred to studies with human subjects. The remaining abstracts (58.3%) described in vitro (31.1%) or in vivo (23.6%) laboratory research and literature reviews (3.6%). Concerning the Council's specialty categories, only five had a frequency higher than 10.0%: esthetic dentistry, periodontics, endodontics, pediatric dentistry, and population-based oral health.
Brazil's scientific output in the field of oral health for the period 2001- 2006 was balanced, with increasing interest in the area of population-based oral health.