Dental conditions in middle-aged and older people in Denmark and Sweden: a comparative study of the influence of socioeconomic and attitudinal factors

Abstract

In 1998-99 two parallel questionnaire studies were performed in Denmark and Sweden. In Denmark the age group was 45-69 years and in Sweden 55-79 years. One aim was to study the influence of socioeconomic and attitudinal factors on dental status in the two countries. For the comparable age groups 55-69 years there was a striking difference in dental conditions between the countries. In Sweden, 72% had either all teeth remaining, missing teeth replaced by fixed prosthodontics, or only one or two single missing teeth not replaced. The corresponding figure for Denmark was 44%. Among Danes, 34% were wearing removable denture(s) or were edentulous in one jaw or both jaws, compared with 15%, among Swedes. In logistic regression models, higher income and longer education were significantly associated with the best dental status categories in Denmark but not in Sweden. In the model with wearing removable denture(s) as the dependent variable, lower income and lower education level showed a significant influence for the Danes. In Sweden, lower income showed a significant influence but education level was insignificant. In both Denmark and Sweden, a positive attitude toward the importance of dental appearance was associated with an increased risk of wearing removable denture(s).

Impact of socio‐demographic variables, oral hygiene practices, oral habits and diet on dental caries experience of Indian elderly: a community‐based study

“…Both these factors showed statistically highly significant association with dental caries experience ( p < 0.0001). The result of the present study contradicts the finding of a previous study reporting direct impact of income and education on the dentition status 8 .…”

Evaluation of different oral care systems: Results for Germany and selected highly developed countries. An update of a former study

“…However, the results of all of these studies are only valid for the analysed subgroups or objects of investigation and may not be generalised for the whole population or the entire dental care system [1][2][3][4][5]. For, in the past, countries with low caries prevalence in children and adolescents showed high rates of missing teeth already in middle-aged adults paired with extraordinarily high rates of edentulism in seniors (age-bracket 65/74) [6,7].…”

Socio‐economic inequality in the self‐reported number of natural teeth among Norwegian adults – an analytical study

“…The observed differences according to SES favour the high status groups in industrialized countries. Thus in these countries, tooth loss is more prevalent among persons with a low level of education and/or income than among their counterparts with a higher level of education and/or income (7–15). Past Norwegian findings have conformed to this general pattern.…”