Prevalence and determinants of dental visits among older adults: findings of a nationally representative longitudinal study

Abstract

Background The first aim was to present descriptive data on the frequency of dental visits among older adults in Germany. The second aim was to identify the determinants of the number of dental visits using a longitudinal approach. Methods Longitudinal data were derived from the German Ageing Survey, which is a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling individuals ≥40 years in Germany. The frequency of dental visits in the past 12 months was recorded in the years 2002, 2008 and 2011. In order to control for time-constant unobserved heterogeneity, Poisson fixed effects regressions were used. Results While the mean number of dental visits was 2.3 (SD: 2.0) in 2002, it was 2.0 (SD: 1.7) in 2008 and 2.1 (SD: 1.7) in 2011. The frequency of dental visits declined with age (total sample and women), transitions from normal weight to overweight (total sample), changes from divorced/widowed/single/married, living separated from spouse to ‘married, living together with spouse’ in women and with a decrease in the number of physical illnesses (total sample and men). Conclusions The frequency of dental visits declines with age in older adults. While some of the determinants of frequency are non-modifiable (e.g., ageing and worsening of general health), others are modifiable (e.g., change in weight category).

Prosthetic treatment patterns in the very old: an insurance database analysis from Northeast Germany

“…A number of studies found that women use (mainly outpatient) healthcare more frequently than men, largely due to a difference in general health status [ 25 , 26 ]. It has also been found that women have better oral health and lower treatment needs than men [ 19 ].…”

Determinants of dental treatment avoidance: findings from a nationally representative study

“…The two trends, frequency of regular dental visits (previous research) on the one hand [ 1 , 4 , 13 ], and avoidance of needed treatment (present study) on the other, might run reversely with rising age. This observation is supported by results of another large population-based study, which detected that younger adults within the older age group (≥ 50 years) are more likely to postpone their dental visits due to financial reasons [ 20 ].…”

“…Since the here presented data of the DEAS study was collected, no other German (and global) studies were published that focused on the determinants of dental treatment avoidance in particular. But in previous data, it has already been demonstrated that the frequency of dental visits decreases with increasing age [ 1 , 4 , 13 ]. The results of the presented study show that, within this age group of older adults (≥ 40 years), younger adults are more likely to avoid dental treatment than older adults, despite being aware of their treatment need.…”

“…A variety of factors that can influence regular dental care utilization have been elaborated in existing literature [ 7 , 13 , 14 ]. For instance, higher age was detected as a factor that negatively influences regular and preventive dental visits [ 7 ].…”

Association between chronic conditions and oral health services utilization in older Peruvian adults: A pooled analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey 2015-2017

“…This study also revealed that OHSU was low in older adults. It has been reported that OHSU diminishes with age [ 22 ]. This could be attributed to the consequences of aging-related difficulties in communicating and functional dependence [ 23 , 24 ], which may compromise older adults’ social skills and mobility and may alter their patterns of healthcare utilization.…”