Social gradient in the cost of oral pain and related dental service utilisation among South African adults

Background: Oral pain affects people's daily activities and quality of life. The burden of oral pain may vary across socio-economic positions. Currently, little is known about the social gradient in the cost of oral pain among South Africans. This study therefore assessed the social gradient in the cost of oral pain and the related dental service utilisation pattern among South African adults. Methods: Data were obtained from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of South African adults ?16 year-old (n = 2651) as part of the South African Social Attitudes Survey conducted by the South African Human Sciences Research Council. The survey included demographic data, individual-level socio-economic position (SEP), self-reported oral health status, past six months' oral pain experience and cost. The area-level SEP was obtained from the 2010 General Household Survey (n = 25,653 households) and the 2010/2011Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted in South Africa. The composite indices used for individual-level SEP (? = 0.76) and area-level SEP (? = 0. 88) were divided into tertiles. Data analysis was done using t-tests and ANOVA. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of oral pain among the adult South Africans was 19.4 % (95 % CI = 17.2-21.9). The most commonly reported form of oral pain was 'toothache' (78.9 %). The majority of the wealthiest participants sought care from private dental clinics (64.7 %), or from public dental clinics (19.7 %), while the poorest tended to visit a public dental clinic (45 %) or nurse/general medical practitioner (17.4 %). In the poorest areas, 21 % responded to pain by 'doing nothing'. The individual expenditure for oral pain showed a social gradient from an average of ZAR61.44 spent by those of lowest SEP to ZAR433.83 by the wealthiest (national average ZAR170.92). Average time lost from school/work was two days over the six-month period, but days lost was highest for those living in middle class neighbourhoods (3.41), while those from the richest neighbourhood had lost significantly fewer days from oral pain (0.64). Conclusions: There is a significant social gradient in the burden of oral pain. Improved access to dental care, possibly through carefully planned universal National Health Insurance (NHI), may reduce oral health disparities in South Africa.Scopus 201

The future of pediatric dentistry education and curricula : A Chilean perspective

Publisher Copyright: © 2016 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: A meeting was organised to consolidate a network of researchers and academics from Australia, Brazil, Chile, the UK and the USA, relating to Early Childhood Caries (ECC) and Dental Trauma (DT). As part of this meeting, a dedicated session was held on the future of paediatric dental education and curricula. Twenty-four paediatric dentistry (PD) academics, representing eight Chilean dental schools, and three international specialists (from Brazil and Latvia) participated in group discussions facilitated by five members of the ECC/DT International Collaborative Network. Data were collected from group discussions which followed themes developed as guides to identify key issues associated with paediatric dentistry education, training and research. Discussion: Participants discussed current PD dental curricula in Chile, experiences in educating new cohorts of oral health care providers, and the outcomes of existing efforts in education and research in PD. They also, identified challenges, opportunities and areas in need of further development. Summary: This paper provides an introspective analysis of the education and training of PD in Chile; describes the input provided by participants into pediatric dentistry education and curricula; and sets out some key priorities for action with suggested directions to best prepare the future dental workforce to maximise oral health outcomes for children. Immediate priorities for action in paediatric dentistry in Chile were proposed.publishersversionPeer reviewe