Avoidance of dental appointment due to cost and consequences for oral health-related quality of life: 25-yr follow-up of Swedish adults

We explored how socio-demographic and personal characteristics contribute to avoidance of dental appointment due to cost over time from age 55 (in 1997) to 75 (in 2017) and assessed the implications for oral health-related quality of life. In 1992, 6346 residents born in 1942 consented to participate in a prospective questionnaire survey, and 3060 (48.2%) of them completed postal follow-ups every fifth year until 2017. Oral health-related quality of life was assessed using the Oral Impact on Daily Performance inventory. The frequency of avoidance of dental appointment due to cost declined from 7.0% (in 1997) to 5.4% (in 2017), whereas the frequency of oral impacts declined from 26.0% in 2007 to 24.0% in 2017. Generalized Estimating Equation models revealed that avoidance of dental appointments due to cost was more likely reported in 1997 (OR: 1.5: 1.2–1.8) than in 2017, more likely in low educated people, and less likely in those using private dental care services. Avoidance of dental appointment due to cost was associated with impaired oral health-related quality of life. Social inequalities in avoidance of dental appointment due to cost and oral impacts did not vary across time but persisted into older ages despite the dental health care reforms that had been implemented.publishedVersio

Validity and reliability of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) frequency scale: a cross-sectional study of adolescents in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Assessing oral health related quality of life impact of mouth in adolescents is a relatively ignored area in dental research. This study aimed to examine reliability and validity of an abbreviated version of the oral impact of daily performance (OIDP) questionnaire and to analyse the interrelationship among OIDP scores, socio-demographic characteristics and oral health status in Uganda. METHOD: 1146 adolescents (mean age 15.8, response rate 87%) attending secondary schools in Kampala (urban) and Lira (rural) completed a survey instrument designed to measure subjective oral health indicators including the eight-item OIDP frequency scores. A clinical examination was conducted among 372 students (mean age 16.3, response rate 72%) and caries was assessed following the World Health Organisation criteria (1997). RESULTS: 62% of the students experienced at least one oral impact during the 6 months preceding the survey. Cronbach's alpha for the OIDP frequency items was 0.91 and the corrected item-total correlation ranged from 0.62 to 0.75. Discriminant and construct validity were demonstrated in that the OIDP scores varied systematically in the expected direction with missing teeth and self-report indicators of oral health status, respectively. Socio-demographics and dental attendance did not predict OIDP through interaction with clinical indicators but varied systematically and independently with OIDP frequency scores in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: the OIDP frequency score have acceptable psychometric properties in the context of an oral health survey among Ugandan adolescents. Some evidence of the importance of social and personal characteristics in shaping adolescents' responses to oral disorders was provided

Number of teeth and myocardial infarction and stroke among elderly never smokers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In most previous studies the association between number of teeth and cardiovascular diseases has been found to be stronger among younger age groups than in older age groups, which indicates that age may modify the association between number of teeth and cardiovascular diseases.</p> <p>We investigated the association between tooth loss and atherosclerotic vascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke in a homogeneous elderly population.</p> <p>The study population was comprised of a subpopulation of 392 community-living elderly people who participated in the population-based Kuopio 75+ study. The data were collected through an interview, a structured clinical health examination and from patient records. The main outcome measures were a history of diagnosed myocardial infarction and diagnosed ischemic stroke. Prevalence proportion ratios (PPR) were estimated using generalised linear models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Edentate subjects had a weakly, statistically non-significantly increased likelihood of a history of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke compared with dentate subjects. Those with a large number of teeth had a slightly, but not statistically significantly increased likelihood of a history of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke compared with those with a small number of teeth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data did not show evidence that total or partial tooth loss would be associated with atherosclerotic vascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke among an elderly population aged 75 years or older.</p

Dor dentaria e fatores associados em adolescentes brasileiros: a Pesquia Nacional de Saude do Escolar (PeNSE), Brasil, 2009

Abstract published in English and Portuguese English title: Dental pain and associated factors in Brazilian adolescents: the National school-based health survey (PeNSE), Brazil, 2009The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental pain and associated socio-demographic and behavioral factors in Brazilian adolescents, using data from the National School-Based Health Survey (PeNSE), Brazil, 2009. The survey was conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and Ministry of Health in students 11 to 17 years of age or older in the 27 State capitals, using a self-administered questionnaire. Analyses included Poisson regression following a hierarchical approach. Prevalence of dental pain in the sample (n = 54,985) in the previous six months was 17.8% (95%CI: 17.5-18.1). Higher prevalence was associated with female gender, age 14 years and over, racial self-identification as black, brown, or indigenous, enrollment in public schools, lower maternal schooling, not living with the mother, history of smoking or drinking, less frequent toothbrushing, and heavy consumption of sweets and soft drinks. Dental pain was thus associated with socio-demographic factors and health-related behaviors. = O objetivo deste estudo foi estimar a prevalência da dor de dente em adolescentes brasileiros e analisar fatores sociodemográficos e comportamentais associados, utilizando os dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar (PeNSE) de 2009. A pesquisa foi realizada pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística e pelo Ministério da Saúde em escolares com idades entre 11 e 17 anos ou mais, das 27 capitais brasileiras, por meio de questionário autoaplicável. Utilizou-se a análise de regressão de Poisson, segundo um modelo hierárquico de determinação. A prevalência de dor na amostra (n = 54.985) nos últimos seis meses foi de 17,8% (IC95%: 17,5-18,1). Prevalências mais elevadas foram encontradas em mulheres, naqueles com 14 anos ou mais, das raças preta, parda e indígena, de escolas públicas, cujas mães tinham baixa escolaridade, que não moravam com a mãe, que haviam experimentado cigarro e álcool alguma vez na vida, que relataram menor frequência de escovação e maior consumo de guloseimas e refrigerantes. A prevalência de dor foi considerável e associada a aspectos sociodemográficos e de comportamentos relacionados à saúde.Maria do Carmo Matias Freire, Cláudio Rodrigues Leles, Luciana Monteiro Vasconcelos Sardinha, Moacir Paludetto Junior, Deborah Carvalho Malta, Marco A. Pere

Dental status and self-assessed chewing ability in 70- and 80-year-old subjects in Sweden

The objective was to compare two cohorts of elderly people, 70 and 80 years old, with respect to dental status and self-assessed chewing ability. The hypotheses were as follows: (i) dental status is associated with self-assessed chewing ability; (ii) chewing ability is poorer among the 80-than the 70-year-old subjects. Identical questionnaires were in 2012 sent to all subjects born in 1942 and 1932, living in two Swedish counties. The response rate was 70.1% resulting in samples of 5697 70- and 2922 80-year-old subjects. Answers to questions on self-assessed chewing ability, dental status and some other factors have been analysed. Dental status varied but was in general good; 72% of the 70- and 60% of the 80-year-old subjects reported that they had all or only few missing teeth. Rate of edentulism was 3% and 7%, respectively. Removable partial dentures were reported by 6% and 10%, respectively, implant treatment by 13% in both cohorts. Self-assessed chewing ability was mostly good and correlated with the number of teeth (Spearman rho = 0.46). A majority of the edentulous subjects assessed their chewing ability as very or fairly good. Logistic regression showed that self-assessed chewing ability was significantly associated with a number of dental variables but also with general health. In conclusion, dental status was relatively good at both ages but somewhat poorer in the older cohort. Dental status, some other dental variables and being healthy were in both age groups significantly associated with self-assessed chewing ability