National Survey of Oral/Dental Conditions Related to Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Mexican Adults

Abstract

Oral diseases are a major burden on individuals and health systems. The aim of this study was to determine whether consumption of tobacco and alcohol were associated with the prevalence of oral/dental problems in Mexican adults. Using data from the National Performance Evaluation Survey 2003, a cross-sectional study part of the World Health Survey, dental information from a representative sample of Mexico (n = 22,229, N = 51,155,740) was used to document self-reported oral/dental problems in the 12 months prior to the survey. Questionnaires were used to collect information related to sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and other risk factors. Three models were generated for each age group (18–30, 31–45 and 46–98 years). The prevalence of oral/dental conditions was 25.7%. Adjusting for sex, schooling, socioeconomic position, diabetes, and self-reported health, those who used tobacco (sometimes or daily) (OR = 1.15, p = 0.070; OR = 1.24, p < 0.01; and OR = 1.16, p < 0.05, for each age group respectively) or alcohol (moderate or high) (OR = 1.26, p < 0.001; OR = 1.18, p < 0.01 and OR = 1.30, p < 0.001, for each age group respectively) had a higher risk of reporting oral/dental problems. Because tobacco and alcohol use were associated with self-reported oral/dental problems in one out of four adults, it appears advisable to ascertain how direct is such link; more direct effects would lend greater weight to adopting measures to reduce consumption of tobacco and alcohol for the specific purpose of improving oral health.

Social inequalities in adult oral health in 40 low- and middle-income countries

“…Self‐reported tooth counts can be used to estimate the number of remaining teeth accurately, and self‐assessed needs are positively correlated with disease measures and are valuable in assessing the needs of adults. In addition, similar results were found in previous surveys conducted in some of these countries, even when using clinical measures. Second, we used the wealth index to measure participants' SEP.…”

“…Indeed, more countries reported pro‐poor than pro‐rich inequalities in perceived needs. A possible explanation for these findings is that the priorities of the poor tend to diverge from those of the rich; the poor having more urgent needs in life to be met than those related to the condition of their mouth and teeth, whereas the rich could identify their oral health needs through enhanced access to information and health education. This is in addition to evidence suggesting that people with the same state of health judge their quality of life differently according to their social standing.…”

“…Despite the paucity of studies monitoring social inequalities in oral health in developing countries, a few national surveys in developing countries show contradicting evidence. A significant social gradient in caries experience was found among Vietnamese adults ≥18 years of age.…”

“…Moreover, a significant interaction was found between the count of durable goods in the household and community development: in communities with low development it was the more advantaged who were more likely to have severe caries, whereas in communities with a high level of development it was those with few foods who were most likely to have severe caries. In Mexico, the prevalence of edentulism decreased with increasing household wealth in adults ≥35 years of age, whereas the opposite trend was found for the prevalence of self‐reported oral/dental problems in adults ≥18 years of age. There is also evidence in medicine showing that the shape of the social gradient in health varies according to economic development and the stage in which the country is in regarding demographic, epidemiologic and nutrition change.…”

Lifestyle and dental attendance as predictors of oral health‐related quality of life

“…This is the basis of the common risk factor approach maintaining that changing a small number of risk factors can have a positive impact upon a large number of diseases (Sheiham and Watt, ). Indeed, physical activity, tobacco, and alcohol use are major risk factors to many chronic diseases (Ezzati and Riboli, ; Bauer et al , ; Kontis et al , ) and may also be linked to oral health (Reibel, ; Bergstrom, ; Tezal et al , ; Petersen et al , ; Benedetti et al , ; Agnihotri and Gaur, ; Madani et al , ; Medina‐Solis et al , ; Reichert et al , ). Therefore, healthy lifestyles are fundamental to public health (Petersen et al , ).…”