Use of oral health services among elderly Brazilians: mediation by tooth loss.

The present study analyzed factors associated with the use of oral health services among elderly Brazilians. This was a cross-sectional study with data from the latest National Oral Health Survey (SB Brazil 2010), which considered a sample of 7,619 elderly individuals (65-74 years) for analysis. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used, investigating the association between latent or observed variables, directly or mediated, in relation to the use of oral health services. Least squares estimators adjusted by mean and variance, were used by means of standardized coefficients, and standard error and confidence intervals, by applying the bootstrapping method with 1,500 iterations. Elderly individuals with a higher socioeconomic status, fewer missing teeth, and the presence of impacts of oral health conditions on their lives were directly associated with the outcome. Other factors associated with the mediated use of oral health services among elderly Brazilians included socioeconomic status, gender, age, and the use of prostheses, in addition to finding a correlation between prosthesis use and missing teeth. Tooth loss, along with other factors, played a prominent role in this study regarding the use of oral health services among elderly Brazilians, pointing to the need to expand access to dental prostheses in primary care.