Influência de diferentes fontes de informação na busca por procedimentos odontológicos estéticos: um estudo exploratório

Abstract

Dentistry has expanded the planning and execution of procedures for esthetic purposes, since appearance is now synonymous with social status and success. The objective of this study was to identify the influence of different sources of information on the search for and accomplishment of esthetic dental treatment. We selected 100 individuals, aged between 18 and 80 years, equally distributed between the sexes, identified for convenience, in the waiting room of an institution that offers postgraduate courses in Dentistry and in a dental clinic in Salvador, Bahia, who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. A structured questionnaire was applied, containing sociodemographic information, previous dental history and possible sources of information that would influence the participant in the search for esthetic treatment. The study population was predominantly black or brown (88%), single (52%), with an average age of 37.8 years (+/- 14.36), with a family income of up to five minimum wages, with a high school certificate (46 %), without having completed higher education (70%), who had already undergone some dental treatment throughout their lives (97%), including those for esthetic purposes (64%). The most prevalent dental procedures were: orthodontic treatment (38%), tooth whitening (18%) and dental implants (16%). The most cited sources of information were: opinion from friends and relatives (38%), professional opinion (37%) and digital media (12%). Data analysis revealed that the opinion of friends and relatives encouraged teeth whitening (p-value ≤ 0.001) and orthodontic treatment (p-value ≤ 0.005); professional opinion encouraged orthodontic treatment (p-value ≤ 0.000). Print and television advertisements did not encourage the accomplishment of teeth whitening (p-value ≤ 0.030) or dental implants (p-value ≤ 0.015); digital media did not influence on the accomplishment of teeth whitening (p-value ≤ 0.023). In view of the different sources of information analyzed, it was possible to identify that the opinion of friends and relatives encouraged the accomplishment of tooth whitening; professional opinion and the opinion of friends and relatives influenced on the accomplishment of orthodontic treatment.