Impact of the use of dental services on dental pain according to adolescents’ skin colour: a 10-year cohort

Abstract

Objective Evaluate the association of the interaction between the use of dental services and the skin colour on the occurrence of dental pain over time. Material and methods This study is a cohort with 10 years of follow-up, started in 2010 with a sample of 639 preschool children (1–5 years old). The use of dental services, race and the presence of dental pain were self-reported by the individuals according to predefined criteria. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the interaction between skin colour and use of dental services in the occurrence of dental pain over time. Results About 449 and 429 were reassessed in 2017 and 2020, respectively. The occurrence of dental pain across the cohort was 60.7%. Caucasian individuals who used dental services throughout the cohort had a 51% lower chance of having a dental pain than those who used dental services but were non-white ( OR 0.49; 95% IC 0.27–0.90). Conclusion There was a racial inequity in the occurrence of dental pain among individuals who managed to make use of dental services throughout the follow-ups. Clinical relevance The differences found should serve as a warning to the way how individuals with different characteristics are treated and must be used to combat this inequity. Individuals should receive resolute and personalized treatments according to their clinical condition and not according to their socioeconomic characteristics.

Self-reported dental pain in Mexican schoolchildren: a national ecological study

“…Treated primarily by dentists and emergency physicians, dental pain has been defined as oral/buccal pain, often originating from teeth or adjacent structures, or attributed to conditions such as periodontal disease, dental caries, occlusal dysfunction, trauma or abscess [4]. Because of its high prevalence and adverse consequences in the economic and social spheres, dental pain is considered an important challenge to public health [5][6][7][8][9]. The prevalence of dental pain throughout the lives of children and adolescents varies considerably among countries.…”

“…Although this SEP concept is commonly used in oral epidemiological research, the multiple ways for measuring it reflect the complexity of its attributes. SEP is one of the variables that has consistently been associated with diverse oral conditions [14][15][16][17][18] and dental pain [5][6][7][8]. Diverse studies have pointed out, e.g., to the association between tooth loss and SEP variables in China, where low school attainment and living in a rural location were linked to tooth loss [14].…”