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Social network, social support and dental status in elderly Swedish men
Author(s) -
Hanson Bertil S.,
Liedberg Birgitta,
Öwall Bengt
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1994.tb02063.x
Subject(s) - social network (sociolinguistics) , social class , social support , psychosocial , medicine , social status , social engagement , dentistry , gerontology , social psychology , psychology , psychiatry , sociology , social science , political science , law , social media
— The objective of this study was to investigate whether there were associations between different aspects of social network and social support and dental status. The study sample ( n = 621) comprised a random half of all male residents in Malmö, Sweden, born in 1914. Five hundred (80.5%) participated. Eight conceptually different aspects of social networks and social support were measured, and all men were clinically examined regarding number of teeth, prevalence of removable dentures, fixed bridges and anterior open tooth spaces. We found that some aspects of dental status were associated with social class, while others were associated with different aspects of social network and social support. Prevalence of complete dentures and fixed bridges was strongly associated with social class, a low number of functioning teeth was associated with both low social class belonging and an insufficient social network and social support, while anterior open tooth spaces were associated mostly with an insufficient social network and social support. This study shows that there are significant associations between some aspects of dental status and the social network and social support of the individual, while other aspects of dental status are associated with social class, which from a psychosocial perspective contribute to a deeper understanding of the backgrounds of dental status.