Does early‐life family income influence later dental pain experience? A prospective 14‐year study

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the association between early‐life family income and dental pain experience from childhood to early adulthood. Methods Data came from a 14‐year prospective study (1991/1992–2005/2006) carried out in South Australia, which included children and adolescents aged 4–17 years (N = 9875) at baseline. The outcome was dental pain experience obtained at baseline, 14 years later in adulthood and at a middle point of time. The main explanatory variable was early‐life family income collected at baseline. Results The prevalence of dental pain was 22.8% at baseline, 19.3% at ‘middle time’ and 39.3% at follow up. The proportion of people classified as ‘poor’ at baseline was 27.7%. Being poor early in life was significantly associated with dental pain at 14‐year follow up (odds ratio = 1.45; 95% confidence interval = 1.27–1.66). Conclusions Early‐life relative poverty is associated with more frequent dental pain across the 14‐year follow up and may be a key exposure variable for later dental conditions.