Oral health among the Wajapi indigenous people at Brazil

The purpose of this study was to describe some aspects of the social and cultural representations of the Brazilian Wajapi indigenous people, to identify habits and transformations in their alimentary patterns and to create a parallel of this context with the distribution of dental caries among the Wajapi villages. This study was guided by quali-quantitative research where interviews, observations and an oral health survey were used to determine the conceptions and conditions about the Wajapi's oral health. Concerning the quantitative information, the authors utilized secondary data of the Wajapi Health Program and analyzed oral health status of 211 (33%) subjects (103 female and 108 male) with a median age of 25.05 years. To measure the prevalence of dental caries, the DMFT index was used, which is a numerical expression of decayed, missing or filled teeth. The EPI INFO 3.2 software was utilized to make statistical analyses, and among the main findings, the mean prevalence of dental caries was not statistically significant (mean=8.17; p=0.7207, when compared between villages). However, significant differences in components of the DMFT index were observed in relation to geographical-historical sites and social-cultural aspects. Also, the results demonstrated that intensification of contact with the Brazilian national society introduced the wage payment practice, provided habits modifications and influenced the consumption of industrialized food and alimentary diet changes as well.