Objectives. We measured the impact of dental diseases on the academic performance of disadvantaged children by sociodemographic characteristics and access to care determinants Methods. We performed clinical dental examinations on 1495 disadvantaged elementary and high school students from Los Angeles County public schools. We matched data with academic achievement and attendance data provided by the school district and linked these to the child’s social determinants of oral health and the impact of oral health on the child’s school and the parents’ school or work absences. Results. Students with toothaches were almost 4 times more likely to have a low grade point average. About 11% of students with inaccessible needed dental care missed school compared with 4% of those with access. Per 100 elementary and high school–aged children, 58 and 80 school hours, respectively, are missed annually. Parents averaged 2.5 absent days from work or school per year because of their children’s dental problems. Conclusions. Oral health affects students’ academic performance. Studies are needed that unbundle the clinical, socioeconomic, and cultural challenges associated with this epidemic of dental disease in children.

Our findings suggest that the prevalence of sleep disorders in the USA is much lower than previously reported in the literature suggesting under diagnosis of sleep disorders by primary care physicians.

Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 1999–2004, the authors examined age patterns in oral health indicators by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status related to edentulism, presence of root caries, and periodontal disease. Our analysis included subjects who were non-Hispanic White, Mexican American, and African American over the age of 20, and who participated in the NHANES oral health examination. African Americans experienced more oral health problems at younger ages; as age increased, so did racial disparities in oral health problems. Lower educational attainment was strongly associated with more oral health problems at all ages. These results may indicate a faster progression of oral health problems with age among African Americans, thus suggesting that the “earlier aging” of members of racial/ethnic minorities which has been reported in prior research may also be found in oral health.

The study identified specific clinical and behavioral factors where dental professionals can intervene to possibly improve the OHRQOL of HIV-infected or at-risk HIV-uninfected women.

Objective-To determine the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on salivary gland function in HIV positive women from the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). Design-Longitudinal cohort study.Subjects and Methods-A total of 668 HIV positive women from the WIHS cohort with an initial and at least 1 follow-up oral sub-study visit contributed 5358 visits. Salivary gland function was assessed based on a dry mouth questionnaire, whole unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rates, salivary gland enlargement or tenderness and lack of saliva on palpation of the major salivary glands.Main Outcome Measures-Changes in unstimulated and stimulated flow rates at any given visit from that of the immediate prior visit (continuous variables). The development of self-reported dry mouth (present/absent), enlargement or tenderness of salivary glands (present/absent), and absence of secretion on palpation of the salivary glands were binary outcomes (yes/no).Results-Protease Inhibitor (PI) based HAART was a significant risk factor for developing decreased unstimulated (p=0.01) and stimulated (p=0.0004) salivary flow rates as well as salivary gland enlargement (p=0.006) as compared with non-PI based HAART. Conclusions-PI-basedHAART therapy is a significant risk factor for developing reduced salivary flow rates and salivary gland enlargement in HIV positive patients.