ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIORS IDENTIFIED IN PATIENTS ACCESSING DENTAL EMERGENCY UNITS. A SINGLE CENTER STUDY

The aim of the study was to identify the profile of patients accessing dental emergency units.Materials and methods: A total of 105 patients who accessed emergency units completed a questionnaire.Sociodemographic, medical, and health-related behavioral data were collected.Additionally, medical diagnostics were considered for this research.Results: Significant differences were identified concerning sex, indicating that men visited emergency units more frequently in the previous month (1.76 0.43) than women (1.54 0.50).Patients with chronic diseases were more commonly diagnosed with periodontitis and mucosal lesions, and they used less analgesic treatment for dental pain than patients with non-chronic diseases.Age correlated positively with a diagnosis of gingivitis (r = 0.19, p = 0.04), in the sense that older individuals were more likely to be diagnosed with gingivitis.The results also proved a strong positive correlation between the level of satisfaction regarding dental health and oral hygiene.The study further investigated the importance of marital status, parenthood, and oral health b ehaviors.Conclusions: Socio-demographic and medical data, along with health-related behaviors, are important factors to be considered when providing emergency dental care to p atients.Such information helps dentists and policymakers to shape preventive str ategies that reduce the number of unhealthy behaviors and oral health issues in patients accessing eme rgency dental units.