Comparisons of Poverty and Nonpoverty Groups on Dental Status, Needs, and Practices*

Abstract

Poverty and nonpoverty adults have been screened in a program of Multiphasic Health Testing in which dental examinations were provided and in which information on dental care behavior was obtained through a health inventory using a video-terminal for recording replies. Findings of the dental examination indicate that, whatever measure of oral health was used, oral health of the poverty group was poorer than that of the nonpoverty group. The poverty group, for example, had more dental problems, and the problems they had were more severe. They also had lower levels of oral hygiene and less restorative treatment. The poverty group also was more likely to be edentulous, and to have higher levels of untreated decay and periodontal diseases. They had more missing teeth, and fewer restored teeth. Nearly all poverty-nonpoverty differences persisted when the data were controlled for age and sex. Information from the health inventory indicates that the poverty group is less likely than those in the nonpoverty group to seek dental care in general, and also specifically for rreventive dental services. Even among the nonpoverty group, however, one third stated that they never sought dental care for "cleanings or checkups." Daily toothbrushing, on the other hand, was generally reported by both poverty-status groups. Consistent relations were found between oral health practices and oral health in both poverty and nonpoverty groups...

Socioeconomic Factors and Caries in People between 19 and 60 Years of Age: An Update of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

“…All of the studies were published between 1975 and 2016 [21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81]. Twenty new studies were included in this update [26,27,28,29,31,38,39,40,44,45,…”

A Systematic Review of Socioeconomic Indicators and Dental Caries in Adults

“…The characteristics of the studies are displayed in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3. Regarding quality, cross-sectional studies received between five and eight points [12,16,17,18,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56] (Table 1), the ecological study received five points [57], one prospective cohort study received the highest score of nine points [58] and three prospective cohort studies received eight points each [59,60,61]. The studies by Bille [62] and Holst and Schuller [63] received six points and Hahn et al [64] received seven points.…”

“…In three studies, the participant ages were defined by a mean of 21 years [43], a minimum of 19 years [28], and a minimum of 50 years [38]. …”

Dental markers of poverty: Biocultural deliberations on oral health of the poor in mid‐nineteenth‐century Ireland

“…The discovery, and consequential study, of the Kilkenny Union Workhouse mass burials have generated a wealth of information relating to the experience of poverty, famine and social marginalization in Irish Victorian society (Geber, 2015). The assessment of oral health as a measure of the quality of life of the poor and destitute is an essential element to consider within these narratives (cf., Nikias, Fink, & Shapiro, 1975; Peres, Peres, de Barros, & Victora, 2007). …”