Supplementary Material for: Association between sense of coherence and caries activity and caries experience among male adolescents from southern Brazil: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: This cross-sectional study assessed the association between sense of coherence (SoC) and caries activity (number of active caries lesions) and caries experience (DMFT index) among 18-19-year-old male adolescents who joined the Brazilian Army as draftees for mandatory military service (n=507). Methods: Data collection included a questionnaire (level of education, family income, and tooth brushing frequency), the Brazilian short version of the SoC scale (SOC-13), and clinical caries examination (non-cavitated/cavitated, inactive/active). The main predictor variable was SoC, categorized as low, moderate, or high. Poisson regression models were used for statistical analysis. Results: A high SoC was significantly associated with a lower number of active lesions (adjusted rate ratio = 0.85; 95% confidence interval = 0.74-0.98). No association between SoC and DMFT was detected. Conclusion: A high SoC was found to be a protective factor to caries activity in this population.