Assessment of the association between dentate status and self-rated general health

Abstract

ObjectiveAiming at preparing the basis for evidence-based dental public health policy making in Slovenia, the objective of the study was to assess the strength of association between oral health status measured by the number of missing teeth and self-rated health (SRH).MethodsThe study was designed as a pooled individual-level data study from four national cross-sectional studies carried out in the period 2001-2012, based on CINDI Health Monitor methodology. Altogether, 34,412 participants were included. A logistic regression model with poor SRH as observed outcome and the number of teeth as explanatory factor (adjusted for selected biologic, socio-economic and health factors) was proposed.ResultsIn the sample, women represented 55.7% and men 44.3%, median age was 45 years. Persons with more missing teeth more likely rated their health as poor. The association was persistent even when different confounding variables were included in the model. In the group with 1-5 missing teeth, in comparison to the group with none missing teeth, OR was 1.23 (p=0.049), whereas for the group with 6-10 missing teeth, OR was 1.32 (p=0.019); for the group with >10 missing teeth, but not all, OR was 1.77 (p<0.001), and for the group with all missing teeth, OR was 2.19 (p<0.001).Conclusions Study results showed clear association of SRH with dentate status, which confirms the oral-general health connection. This indicates the need for the development of proper dental public health policies for better oral health, and presents a new view on the importance of preserving teeth.

Is tooth loss important when evaluating perceived general health? Findings from a nationally representative study of Costa Rican adults

“…Tyrovolas et al, showed a link between tooth loss, SRH and depression in low‐ and middle‐income countries. Ranfl et al also found a strong association between tooth loss and SRH, after adjustment for confounders in Slovenian adults, consistent with our findings.…”

“…Empirical research has previously investigated the associations between oral and general health outcomes, mostly showing correlations with noncommunicable diseases (eg, stroke, diabetes) . To a lesser extent, specific proxies of long‐term oral health (such as tooth loss and edentulism) have been correlated with general health, taking a broad definition of the latter . Tyrovolas et al, showed a link between tooth loss, SRH and depression in low‐ and middle‐income countries.…”

Correlation between the DAI and ICON indices used for assessment of orthodontic treatment need in Croatian schoolchildren

“…As 56% of schoolchildren with mixed dentition and 46% of schoolchildren with permanent dentition have caries, one can assume that the overall orthodontic treatment need in population might be lowered if caries prevention and timely treatment were employed ( 27 ). Recent research showed strong correlation between the oral health and number of preserved teeth and self-reported general health ( 28 ). This indicates that putting the emphasis on the caries prevention and teeth preservation should be a continuous public health agenda of greatest importance.…”

Association between Oral Health-Related and Health-Related Quality of Life

“…Reissmann et al used OHIP-49 and SF-36 PROMs, while we used OHIP-49 and PROMIS v.1.1 Global Health PROMs. Similarly, the study by Ranfl and Zaletel-Kragelj used single items for the evaluation of the connection between dentate status and self-assessed general health on a large sample of general population subjects (11). Like us, they also considered the possibility of variation in data when adjusted for confounders such as age, gender, educational level, type of work, and self-classified social class (11).…”

“…Zimmer et al derived a correlation between OHIP-14 and SF-12 scores of 0.31-0.32 (9), while Reissmann et al reported a slightly higher correlation of 0.40 between OHIP-49 and SF-36 scores (10). Ranfl and Zeletel-Kragelj assessed the association between self-rated dentate status and self-rated general health and concluded that poor self-rated health was associated with a higher number of self-reported missing teeth (11).…”