Factors influencing patient satisfaction with dental appearance and treatments they desire to improve aesthetics

Background: We assessed factors influencing patients’ satisfaction with their dental appearance and the treatments they desired to improve dental aesthetics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed out among 235 adult patients who visited the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia dental clinic. A structured, interviewer-guided questionnaire was used to identify patient satisfaction with their general dental appearance, cosmetic elements and desired treatments. Results: The 235 patients consisted of 70 males (29.8%) and 165 females (70.2%), of mean age 31.5 years (SD 13.0). Of these patients, 124 (52.8%) were not satisfied with their general dental appearance. In addition, 132 patients (56.2%) were not happy with the color of their teeth, 76 (32.3%), regarded their teeth were poorly aligned, 62 (26.4%), as crowded and 56 (23.4%) protruded. Dissatisfaction with tooth color was significantly higher in female than in male patients (odds ratio [OR] of 1.99 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-3.50). Tooth whitening was the treatment most desired by patients (48.1%). Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patient dissatisfaction with general dental appearance was significantly associated with female gender (OR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.18-4.03), unhappiness with tooth color (OR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.74-5.34) and the opinion that their teeth protruded (OR = 2.91, 95% CI: 1.44-5.91)

Autoavaliação de saúde bucal: resultados da Pesquisa Mundial de Saúde - Atenção Básica em quatro municípios do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2005 Self-rated oral health: results of the World Health Survey - Primary Care in four municipalities in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, 2005

A autoavaliação da saúde é um indicador subjetivo que combina componentes físicos, emocionais e do bem-estar individual e vem adquirindo papel importante na área da Saúde Pública, sendo utilizado na avaliação do estado de saúde da população geral. Este trabalho objetivou estudar os cuidados assistenciais e o estado de saúde bucal, incluindo a autoavaliação, utilizando dados de 1.871 indivíduos, com 18 anos ou mais de idade, entrevistados na Pesquisa Mundial de Saúde - Atenção Básica, realizada em quatro municípios do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, no ano de 2005. Foram utilizados modelos de regressão logística binária para identificar os determinantes da autoavaliação de saúde bucal "excelente" ou "boa". Para ambos os sexos, as variáveis significativamente associadas à autoavaliação da saúde bucal foram: renda domiciliar per capita, frequência de visita odontológica e perda de dentes e uso de prótese. Os resultados evidenciam um gradiente socioeconômico na percepção subjetiva, uma precária saúde bucal entre os idosos e a importância da visita odontológica regular para manutenção da saúde bucal.<br>Self-rated health is a subjective indicator that combines physical and emotional components and individual well-being. It has gained an important role in Public Health, with increasing use in the evaluation of the general population's health status. This study focuses on dental care and oral health status, including self-rated oral health, using data from 1,871 individuals 18 years or older, interviewed in World Health Survey - Primary Care, conducted in four municipalities in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the determinants of 'excellent' or 'good' self-rated oral health. For both men and women, variables significantly associated with self-rated oral health were: per capita family income, frequency of dental visits, tooth loss, and use of dental prostheses. The results showed a socioeconomic gradient in self-rated oral health, precarious oral health among the elderly, and the importance of regular dental visits for maintaining oral health

Are people with dental fear under-represented in oral epidemiological surveys?

Background/: Dental phobia is associated with poorer dental attendance so epidemiological surveys requiring participants to undertake a dental examination may result in an under-representation of participants with high dental fear. Method: We compared the dental fear distribution of participants and non-participants in an oral examination component of a national epidemiological survey of oral health. Of 12,606 in-scope dentate people aged 15+ who completed a structured computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey, 5,505 (43.7%) participated in the oral examination. Dental fear was assessed with a single-item measure in the CATI. Results There was a significant difference between the percentages of participants and non-participants who rated themselves as “extremely” afraid, although the absolute difference (1.9%) was small. The association between extreme dental fear and participation was significant (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.56–0.77) in multivariate analyses after controlling for possible confounders. Females with extreme dental fear were also significantly less likely to undertake an oral examination. Conclusion: Even though people with dental fear and phobia may delay or avoid dental visits, they do not appear to be appreciably under-represented in oral epidemiological surveys.Jason M. Armfield, Gary D. Slade and A. John Spence

Tooth Color as a Predictor of Oral Health‐Related Quality of Life in Young Adults

PURPOSE: Smiling plays an important role in social interaction. The purpose of this research was to explore the extent to which objective parameters of color of one's own teeth affected the social and emotional dimensions of young adults' lives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample included 134 subjects- students of the University of Rijeka, Croatia (65% female) aged 19 to 28 years (median 21). All subjects had six intact maxillary anterior teeth without restorations or severe malocclusions and healthy gingiva with no signs of inflammation. Tooth color was assessed intraorally using a spectrophotometer. Lightness, chroma, and translucency of the right maxillary central incisors (the reference teeth) were calculated and used for analysis. Subjects reported dimensions of their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), Orofacial Esthetic Scale (OES), and the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ). Linear relationships between elements of tooth color and OHRQoL were explored using Pearson correlations. Multiple linear regression, while controlling for the influence of age and gender, was also calculated. ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test was employed to test whether nonlinear relationships existed between OHRQoL and categories of color elements. RESULTS: Dental self-confidence, esthetic concerns, orofacial appearance, social impact and psychological impact were not related to lightness, chroma, or translucency of the subjects' teeth. Neither linear nor nonlinear relationships were detected between those aspects. Satisfaction with smile esthetics was only related to translucency where subjects with moderate translucency were least likely to be satisfied (p = 0.033). Women tended to report greater psychosocial impacts than men (p < 0.05), regardless of their tooth color. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study objective, measurable, quantitative parameters of tooth color did not accurately predict psychosocial dimensions of OHRQoL in dentate young adults