Twenty‐five‐year follow‐up of educational differences in toothache prevalence

Abstract

Objectives Nationally representative studies on socioeconomic differences in toothache prevalence are very limited, especially with a long follow‐up period. Our aim was to examine the education‐related differences in toothache prevalence among 25‐ to 64‐year‐olds in Finland during 1990‐2014. Methods We used data from the Health Behaviour and Health Among the Finnish Adult Population surveys. Data were gathered by random samples of 15‐ to 64‐year‐old Finns annually between 1990 and 2014. Response rates decreased during this period from 76% (n = 3812) to 53% (n = 2630). Our final pooled total sample size was 63 372 after exclusion of edentate participants and missing data. Relative educational level was used to measure socioeconomic position. In addition to basic tabulations, educational differences in toothache prevalence during the past month were investigated using the multiple additive regression tree for mediation analysis. Results The proportion of respondents who reported having had toothache during the past month increased from 7% to 12% from 1990 to 2014. Educational differences in toothache prevalence were small for the whole study period, especially in women. Men with high relative education had a lower toothache prevalence than people with low relative education during 1990‐1994 and 2010‐2014. This stemmed from the direct effect of relative education and the indirect effects of toothbrushing frequency, number of missing teeth and perceived health. In both sexes, those with middle‐level relative education had higher toothache prevalence than people with low relative education 1995‐2009. Conclusions During 1990‐2014, toothache prevalence increased among 25‐ to 64‐year‐olds in Finland. Since the mid‐1990s, differences in toothache prevalence by relative education remained very small in both sexes. More actions are needed to understand reasons behind the clearly increased toothache prevalence in Finland during the last decades.

Orofacial pain among Chinese older adults in the last year of life

“…Surprisingly, our study found that older adults who brushed their teeth at least daily were more likely to have toothache and jaw or facial pain than those who did not brush their teeth. Most studies to date have suggested that less frequent toothbrushing is associated with a higher likelihood of toothache 19 . A recent study conducted in China also found that higher frequency of toothbrushing is associated with higher likelihood of having toothache among older adults.…”

“…Older adults who smoked in the last year of life were more likely to have toothache than those who did not smoke. Previous findings have shown that smoking was related to a higher likelihood of reporting toothache 17‐19 . This may be due to an accumulated effect of dental plaque, modified saliva by tobacco, impaired wound healing and exposure of root surfaces resulting from periodontitis 33 .…”

“…Previous findings have shown that smoking was related to a higher likelihood of reporting toothache. [17][18][19] This may be due to an accumulated effect of dental plaque, modified saliva by tobacco, impaired wound healing and exposure of root surfaces resulting from periodontitis. 33 Surprisingly, our study found that older adults who brushed their teeth at least daily were more likely to have toothache and jaw or facial pain than those who did not brush their teeth.…”

“…Independent variables included the number of teeth, socioeconomic status, health behaviours and health status that were found to be associated with orofacial pain symptoms in previous studies. [15][16][17][18][19][21][22][23]…”

“…With regard to related factors, recent studies indicate that lower socioeconomic status 15‐17 and unhealthy behaviors, including smoking and lower frequency of teeth brushing, 17‐19 were the factors most consistently related to higher likelihood of having orofacial pain symptoms. Chronic health conditions and number of remaining teeth were also found to be associated with higher likelihood of having orofacial pain symptoms such as toothache 17 …”