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Long‐term regular dental attendance and tooth retention among British adults: A cross‐sectional analysis of national survey data
Author(s) -
Talakey Arwa Ameen,
Bernabé Eduardo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of dental hygiene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.674
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1601-5037
pISSN - 1601-5029
DOI - 10.1111/idh.12373
Subject(s) - medicine , dentition , attendance , dentistry , socioeconomic status , cross sectional study , odds ratio , confidence interval , demography , odds , logistic regression , population , environmental health , pathology , sociology , economics , economic growth
Objective To explore the association between long‐term pattern of dental attendance and tooth retention among British adults. Methods This study analysed data from 2970 dentate adults who participated in the Adult Dental Health Survey. Data were collected through home interviews and clinical examinations. Individuals were categorized into four trajectories according to their responses to three questions on dental attendance over their life span. The four trajectories were always, current, former and never regular attenders. Tooth retention was measured as the number of natural teeth retained and having a functional dentition (20 or more teeth). Associations were examined in regression models adjusted for demographic (sex, age and country of residence), socioeconomic (education, equivalized household income and social class) and clinical factors (untreated caries and periodontal disease). Results Never and former regular attenders had fewer teeth retained (rate ratios with 95% confidence interval: 0.93 [0.89‐0.97] and 0.97 [0.96‐0.99], respectively) and lower odds of having functional dentition (odds ratios with 95% CI: 0.36 [0.22‐0.60] and 0.53 [0.34‐0.83], respectively) than always regular attenders after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and clinical characteristics. However, no differences in number of teeth retained or having a functional dentition were found between always and current regular attenders. Conclusion Long‐term regular dental attendance was associated with greater tooth retention. Never and former regular attenders had fewer teeth retained than always regular attenders. No difference in tooth retention was found between always and current regular attenders.