Impact of oral health and body image in school bullying

To identify the association between perception of body image and oral health in school bullying among adolescents of an urban locality in Brazil.

A self-questionnaire was applied on 381 students from public school between 12 and 15 years old. The variables studied were sex, age, schooling, school bullying events, and perception about their oral health and body image. The prevalence of bullying was 29.6%. The multivariate analysis showed that those who indicated that they were criticized due to the condition of their teeth had 4.37 more chance of victimization (oral 4371 CI 2325-8218). Those who felt that oral health had little effect on their relationship with other people had 2.2 times more chance to suffer from bullying (oral 2204 CI 1031-4708) than those who did not. Among adolescents who were not satisfied with their body image, 46.7% had more chance to be a victim of bullying (oral 2467 CI 1373-4431).

A high prevalence of students affected by bullying was observed. It was possible to observe an association between bullying and dissatisfaction with oral health and body image. It is important to implement and evaluate public policies on oral health, expanding access to and improving these public services offered to the population.