What kind of third molars are disease-free in a population aged 30 to 93 years?

ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to characterize third molars that have remained disease-free in a representative sample of the Finnish population aged 30years and older.Materials and methodsTwo-staged stratified cluster sampling (N=8028) was used, and 6005 subjects participated in a clinical oral examination and panoramic radiography. Disease-free third molars were characterized as follows: no dentinal caries, no filling, periodontal pocket depths of neighboring second molars less than 4mm, and no radiographic pathological findings. Logistic regression analyses served for assessment of the strength of characteristics of third molars for disease-free status.ResultsOf the subjects, 2653 (44%) had at least one third molar. Of them, the majority (62%) had only diseased third molars, 16% had only disease-free ones, and 22% had both. Participants had in total 5665 third molars; 29% of them were disease-free. Female gender, higher level of education, and younger age were related to disease-free status (PPeer reviewe

Retained dental roots of adults : A nationwide population study with panoramic radiographs

The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence and nature of retained dental roots and their associations with demographics in the Finnish adult population. From the cross-sectional nationwide Health 2000 Survey of the Finnish population aged 30 years and older, 6005 participants with clinical oral examination and panoramic radiographs were included. Occurrence and characteristics of all retained dental roots were examined. Statistical analyses included chi(2), Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests, and SAS-SUDAAN calculations. The mean age of the 6005 participants (46% men and 54% women) was 53 (SD 14.6) years. At least one retained dental root was observed in 13% (n = 754) of the participants. The 1350 retained roots included 461 (34%) roots retained entirely in bone and 889 (66%) partly in bone. The most common location of a retained dental root was the third molar region. Occurrence of retained roots partly in bone was associated with male sex and lower education. Occurrence of retained third molar roots entirely in bone was associated with female sex, younger age, higher education, and living in a city. Among all retained dental roots, the preponderance of third molars emphasized the demanding nature of extracting the third molar in women.Peer reviewe

Use of oral health care services in Finnish adults - results from the cross-sectional Health 2000 and 2011 Surveys

Background: During the 2000s, two major legislative reforms concerning oral health care have been implemented in Finland. One entitled the whole population to subsidized care and the other regulated the timeframes of access to care. Our aim was, in a cross-sectional setting, to assess changes in and determinants of use of oral health care services before the first reform in 2000 and after both reforms in 2011. Methods: The data were part of the nationally representative Health 2000 and 2011 Surveys of adults aged >= 30 years and were gathered by interviews and questionnaires. The outcome was the use of oral health care services during the previous year. Determinants of use among the dentate were grouped according to Andersen's model: predisposing (sex, age group), enabling (education, recall, dental fear, habitual use of services, household income, barriers of access to care), and need (perceived need, self-rated oral health, denture status). Chi square tests and logistic regression analyses were used for statistical evaluation. Results: No major changes or only a minor increase in overall use of oral health care services was seen between the study years. An exception were those belonging to oldest age group who clearly increased their use of services. Also, a significant increase in visiting a public sector dentist was observed, particularly in the age groups that became entitled to subsidized care in 2000. In the private sector, use of services decreased in younger age groups. Determinants for visiting a dentist, regardless of the service sector, remained relatively stable. Being a regular dental visitor was the most significant determinant for having visited a dentist during the previous year. Enabling factors, both organizational and individual, were emphasized. They seemed to enable service utilization particularly in the private sector. Conclusions: Overall changes in the use of oral health care services were relatively small, but in line with the goals set for the reform. Older persons increased use of services in both sectors, implying growing need. Differences between public and private sectors persisted, and recall, costs of care and socioeconomic factors steered choices between the sectors, sustaining inequity in access to care.Peer reviewe

Use of oral health care services in Finnish adults - results from the cross-sectional Health 2000 and 2011 Surveys

Background: During the 2000s, two major legislative reforms concerning oral health care have been implemented in Finland. One entitled the whole population to subsidized care and the other regulated the timeframes of access to care. Our aim was, in a cross-sectional setting, to assess changes in and determinants of use of oral health care services before the first reform in 2000 and after both reforms in 2011.Methods: The data were part of the nationally representative Health 2000 and 2011 Surveys of adults aged >= 30 years and were gathered by interviews and questionnaires. The outcome was the use of oral health care services during the previous year. Determinants of use among the dentate were grouped according to Andersen's model: predisposing (sex, age group), enabling (education, recall, dental fear, habitual use of services, household income, barriers of access to care), and need (perceived need, self-rated oral health, denture status). Chi square tests and logistic regression analyses were used for statistical evaluation.Results: No major changes or only a minor increase in overall use of oral health care services was seen between the study years. An exception were those belonging to oldest age group who clearly increased their use of services. Also, a significant increase in visiting a public sector dentist was observed, particularly in the age groups that became entitled to subsidized care in 2000. In the private sector, use of services decreased in younger age groups. Determinants for visiting a dentist, regardless of the service sector, remained relatively stable. Being a regular dental visitor was the most significant determinant for having visited a dentist during the previous year. Enabling factors, both organizational and individual, were emphasized. They seemed to enable service utilization particularly in the private sector.Conclusions: Overall changes in the use of oral health care services were relatively small, but in line with the goals set for the reform. Older persons increased use of services in both sectors, implying growing need. Differences between public and private sectors persisted, and recall, costs of care and socioeconomic factors steered choices between the sectors, sustaining inequity in access to care

Evaluating housing quality, health and safety using an Internet-based data collection and response system: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Typically housing and health surveys are not integrated together and therefore are not representative of population health or national housing stocks. In addition, the existing channels for distributing information about housing and health issues to the general public are limited. The aim of this study was to develop a data collection and response system that would allow us to assess the Finnish housing stock from the points of view of quality, health and safety, and also to provide a tool to distribute information about important housing health and safety issues.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The data collection and response system was tested with a sample of 3000 adults (one per household), who were randomly selected from the Finnish Population Register Centre. Spatial information about the exact location of the residences (i.e. coordinates) was included in the database inquiry. People could participate either by completing and returning a paper questionnaire or by completing the same questionnaire via the Internet. The respondents did not receive any compensation for their time in completing the questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This article describes the data collection and response system and presents the main results of the population-based testing of the system. A total of 1312 people (response rate 44%) answered the questionnaire, though only 80 answered via the Internet. A third of the respondents had indicated they wanted feedback. Albeit a majority (>90%) of the respondents reported being satisfied or quite satisfied with their residence, there were a number of prevalent housing issues identified that can be related to health and safety.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The collected database can be used to evaluate the quality of the housing stock in terms of occupant health and safety, and to model its association with occupant health and well-being. However, it must be noted that all the health outcomes gathered in this study are self-reported. A follow-up study is needed to evaluate whether the occupants acted on the feedback they received. Relying solely on an Internet-based questionnaire for collecting data would not appear to provide an adequate response rate for random population-based surveys at this point in time.</p

Phenotype Harmonization in the GLIDE2 Oral Health Genomics Consortium

Genetic risk factors play important roles in the etiology of oral, dental, and craniofacial diseases. Identifying the relevant risk loci and understanding their molecular biology could highlight new prevention and management avenues. Our current understanding of oral health genomics suggests that dental caries and periodontitis are polygenic diseases, and very large sample sizes and informative phenotypic measures are required to discover signals and adequately map associations across the human genome. In this article, we introduce the second wave of the Gene-Lifestyle Interactions and Dental Endpoints consortium (GLIDE2) and discuss relevant data analytics challenges, opportunities, and applications. In this phase, the consortium comprises a diverse, multiethnic sample of over 700,000 participants from 21 studies contributing clinical data on dental caries experience and periodontitis. We outline the methodological challenges of combining data from heterogeneous populations, as well as the data reduction problem in resolving detailed clinical examination records into tractable phenotypes, and describe a strategy that addresses this. Specifically, we propose a 3-tiered phenotyping approach aimed at leveraging both the large sample size in the consortium and the detailed clinical information available in some studies, wherein binary, severity-encompassing, and "precision," data-driven clinical traits are employed. As an illustration of the use of data-driven traits across multiple cohorts, we present an application of dental caries experience data harmonization in 8 participating studies (N = 55,143) using previously developed permanent dentition tooth surface-level dental caries pattern traits. We demonstrate that these clinical patterns are transferable across multiple cohorts, have similar relative contributions within each study, and thus are prime targets for genetic interrogation in the expanded and diverse multiethnic sample of GLIDE2. We anticipate that results from GLIDE2 will decisively advance the knowledge base of mechanisms at play in oral, dental, and craniofacial health and disease and further catalyze international collaboration and data and resource sharing in genomics research.Peer reviewe

Gender differences in health care use among the elderly population in areas of Norway and Finland. A cross-sectional analysis based on the HUNT study and the FINRISK Senior Survey

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to examine gender differences in the self-reported use of health care services by the elderly in rural and metropolitan areas of two Nordic countries with slightly different health care systems: Finland and Norway. METHODS: Population based, cross-sectional surveys conducted in Nord-Tröndelag Norway (1995–97) and in rural and metropolitan areas of Finland (1997) were employed. In the Norwegian data, a total of 7,919 individuals, aged 65–74 years old were included, and the Finnish data included 1,500 individuals. The outcome variables comprised whether participants had visited a general practitioner or a specialist, or had received hospital care or physiotherapy during the past 12 months. Gender differences in the use of health care services were analysed by multiple logistic regression, controlling for health status and socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: In Norway, elderly women visited a specialist or were hospitalised less often than men. In Finland, elderly women used all health care services except hospital care more often than men. In Norway, less frequent use of specialist care by women was not associated with self-reported health or chronic diseases. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed differences in self-reported use of secondary care among different genders in areas of Norway and Finland

Fish Consumption and Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Relation to Depressive Episodes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

High fish consumption and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake are suggested to benefit mental well-being but the current evidence is conflicting. Our aim was to evaluate whether a higher level of fish consumption, a higher intake of omega-3 PUFAs, and a higher serum concentration of omega-3 PUFAs link to a lower 12-month prevalence of depressive episodes