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National Study of Adult Oral Health 2017–18: root caries
Author(s) -
Kapellas Kostas,
RobertsThomson Kaye F
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/adj.12763
Subject(s) - root caries , dentistry , medicine , oral health , cementum , population , telephone survey , demography , environmental health , dentin , marketing , sociology , business
Background The prevalence of root caries in Australia is expected to increase due to an ageing population and increase in tooth retention. This report presents findings from the Australian National Study of Adult Oral Health 2017‐18. Methods A stratified random sample of 15 731 Australians aged ≥15 years participated in a telephone or online survey. Of those, 5022 dentate people underwent an oral assessment. Carious root surfaces were defined as ≥1 mm of affected dentine/cementum. Prevalence was defined as the percentage with ≥one natural tooth with untreated caries on root surfaces. Severity was measured as the mean number of root surfaces with caries. Results Prevalence of untreated root caries in the Australian adult dentate population was 8.2% and increased with increasing age (range 2%—17.8%). Men (9.3%) compared to women (7.2%), people living in remote (18.0%) versus regional (9.3%) and major cities (7.6%), and those with the lowest household income (15.4%) compared to middle (7.6%) and highest tertile (3.2%) had untreated root caries. The average number of decayed or filled root surfaces in the Australian adult population was 1.1 (95% CI 0.9, 1.2). Conclusions Root caries was associated with older age, living outside a major city and lower income.