Oral impacts on quality of life and problem-oriented attendance among South East London adults

Abstract

BackgroundDental care seeking behaviour is often driven by symptoms. The value of oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) measures to predict utilisation of dental services is unknown. This study aims to explore the association between OHRQoL and problem-oriented dental attendance among adults.MethodsWe analysed cross-sectional data for 705 adults, aged 16 years and above, living in three boroughs of Inner South East London. Data were collected during structured interviews at home. The short form of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) was used to assess the frequency of oral impacts on daily life in the last year. Problem-oriented attendance was defined based on time elapsed since last visit (last 6 months) and reason for that visit (trouble with teeth). The association between OHIP-14 (total and domain) scores and problem-oriented attendance was tested in logistic regression models adjusting for participants’ sociodemographic characteristics.ResultsProblem-oriented attenders had a higher OHIP-14 total score than regular attenders (6.73 and 3.73, respectively). In regression models, there was a positive association between OHIP-14 total score and problem-oriented attendance. The odds of visiting the dentist for trouble with teeth were 1.07 greater (95% Confidence Interval: 1.04–1.10) per unit increase in the OHIP-14 total score, after adjustment for participants’ sociodemographic characteristics. In subsequent analysis by OHIP-14 domains, greater scores in all domains but handicap were significantly associated with problem-oriented attendance.ConclusionThis study shows that oral impacts on quality of life are associated with recent problem-oriented dental attendance among London adults. Six of the seven domains in the OHIP-14 questionnaire were also associated with dental visits for trouble with teeth.

Oral health literacy, self‐rated oral health, and oral health‐related quality of life in Brazilian adults

“…In accordance with previous research (25,(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42), we observed socio-economic inequalities in the SROH and OHRQoL of the adults in our sample, and also corroborating previous research, these inequalities were associated with the socio-economic characteristics, a problem-oriented approach to utilization of dental services (35,(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48), and self-reported general health (7,10,(49)(50)(51). Socio-economic disparities can affect psychosocial factors, such as optimism, coping styles, and personal control related to health outcomes, which can be predictive of SROH and OHRQoL (38,41,52).…”

Prevalence, Extent, and Severity of Oral Health Impacts Among Adults in Rural Karnataka, India

“…Previous studies from the UK (Gaewkhiew et al 2017) and Australia (Brennan et al 2019) have indicated that poor OHRQoL was higher among those who recently visited the dentist, which was also found in this study. The reason for this association seems to be counterintuitive as one might think that those who do not visit a dentist regularly might experience more oral disease and, consequently, a poorer OHRQoL compared with those who do visit a dentist (Montero et al 2011).…”

“…The context of the associations between poor OHRQoL and dental visits has to be considered: The percentage of those visiting a dentist was lower than what has been found elsewhere (CDA 2017), which might have explained the higher prevalence of oral diseases and risk factors in this population (Bhat et al 2015; Bhat et al 2018) and yet dental visits do not occur as frequently as reported by other populations. Also, the reporting of oral health impacts was lower compared with other studies (Gaewkhiew et al 2017; Brennan et al 2019), which might be due to the fact that rural Indian people may be more concerned about their daily functioning and not psychosocial status being affected by poor oral health, and the fact that they consider losing teeth as a natural process of aging (Singh et al 2013). It might also be due to the fact that some individuals become accustomed to accepting less than ideal health status as normal.…”

Chronic periodontitis and oral health‐related quality of life in Chinese adults: A population‐based, cross‐sectional study

“…Previous research has indicated that participants with poorer OHRQoL were more likely to have recently visited the dentist . Inconsistent with these results, we did not observe this association in the present study.…”