[Dental pain as the motive for absenteeism in a sample of workers]

The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of dental pain, absenteeism induced by dental pain, and the association with socio-demographic characteristics. The research had a cross-sectional design using a random sample of 170 municipal employees from the City of Venda Nova do Imigrante, Espírito Santo state, Brazil, selected from a universe of 545 individuals. Data was collected using a 27-item questionnaire applied by a municipal worker. The comparison of dental pain and prevalence of absenteeism with socio-demographic and functional characteristics was verified using Fisher's Exact test. The research project was approved by an Ethics Research Committee. The prevalence of dental pain among the employees was 43% and half of these felt dental pains at work. Absenteeism related to dental pain was 23.4%. Workers with lower instruction level were twice as likely to have dental pain (OR = 2,144, IC95% = 1,141; 4,030). Male subjects (OR = 5,714, IC95% = 1,773; 18,416), less years of education (OR = 4,875, IC95% = 1,405; 16,909) and less family income (OR = 3,613, IC95% = 0,931; 14,021) were related with higher absenteeism caused by dental pain. High dental pain frequency revealed in this study indicates that health promotion policies are needed to improve the quality of life of workers.