Oral health-related quality of life and perceived dental needs in the United States

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQOL) in the US population by sociodemographic factors, perception of dental needs, reported dental visits, and saliva indicators. Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003‐2004 were used. NHANES measured OHRQOL by a modified version of the Oral Health Impact Profile. Results: The study had 6,183 subjects who averaged an OHRQOL score of 2.8 points. About 40% had painful aching in the mouth during the last year on at least one occasion. Perceived need to relieve dental pain was the strongest risk factor for poor OHRQOL (resulting in a higher score by 5.2 points), followed by perceived need for a denture or feeling of dry mouth (each resulting in a higher score by about 2 points). Conclusions: OHRQOL is the poorest among those with perceived dental needs especially those with the perceived need to relieve dental pain.

Oral health‐related quality‐of‐life scores differ by socioeconomic status and caries experience

“…If confirmed in additional studies, differences in OHRQoL reporting by SES carry implications for research and public health practice. Quality‐of‐life measures have been used increasingly as proxy for clinical assessments in oral health surveillance, and could underestimate the oral health needs in disadvantaged communities if measures are interpreted differently. Similarly, the effectiveness of oral health interventions could appear less pronounced in subgroups that under‐report OHRQoL impacts.…”

“…Quality-of-life measures have been used increasingly as proxy for clinical assessments in oral health surveillance, 36,37 and could underestimate the oral health needs in disadvantaged communities if Adjusted for child sex and age (in months), maternal age, household residents, family composition, allocation group in the nesting trial and oral health status. Adjusted ECOHIS ratios for socioeconomic variables are from separate models that included only that socioeconomic measure to avoid overadjustment for correlated variables.…”

The relationship between lifestyle and self-reported oral health among American adults

“…One study examined the self-reported oral health status of Americans and Australians and found similar oral health profiles in both countries 8 . Another two studies investigated the disparities in self-reported oral health categorised by sociodemographics, perception of dental needs, etc., and found that those individuals having dental needs had the poorest self-reported oral health 9 and that the ability to pay for care is linked to self-reported oral health status 10 . None of these previous studies asked the question 'How would you describe the condition of your teeth?…”

Association between unmet needs for dental treatment and the DMFT index among Korean adults

“…A longitudinal study of Hong Kong residents 23) showed that dental visitation was associated with a perceived need for dental fillings, not the baseline number of DT. Additionally, results from studies in developed and developing countries 7,17,[24][25][26] showed that pain relief is one of the main reasons for self-reported treatment. Consequently, limited access to oral health services are often associated with teeth being left untreated, which results in subsequent extraction of these teeth because of pain or ; this is consistent with the results of the present study, which showed that the DT index was significantly different between individuals with and without unmet needs for dental treatments.…”

“…These factors are closely related to each other and act as a barrier to achieving good oral health. Until now, several studies have considered patients' perceived dental needs to identify the potential factors leading to unmet dental care needs 14,15) and to assess their influences on dental care utilization 16) and oral health related quality of life 17) .…”