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Social gradients in periodontal diseases among adolescents
Author(s) -
López Rodrigo,
Fernández Olaya,
Baelum Vibeke
Publication year - 2006
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.1600-0528.2006.00271.x
Subject(s) - medicine , socioeconomic status , logistic regression , periodontal disease , association (psychology) , social class , dentistry , clinical attachment loss , demography , environmental health , population , philosophy , epistemology , law , sociology , political science
– Objective: To investigate the association between socioeconomic position and periodontal diseases among adolescents. Methods: Data were obtained from 9203 Chilean high school students. Clinical examinations included direct recordings of clinical attachment level and the necrotizing ulcerative gingival lesions. Students answered a questionnaire on various dimensions of socioeconomic position. Seven periodontal outcomes were analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify socioeconomic variables associated with the periodontal outcomes. Results: The occurrence of all periodontal outcomes investigated followed social gradients, and paternal income and parental education were the most influential variables. Conclusions: The study demonstrates the existence of significant social gradients in periodontal diseases already among adolescents. This is worrying, and indicates a new potential for further insight into the mechanisms of periodontal disease causation.