Journal of Dental Research, Vol 75, 1439-1450, Copyright © 1996 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals

ARTICLES

Variations in the social impact of oral conditions among older adults in South Australia, Ontario, and North Carolina

G. D. Slade, A. J. Spencer, D. Locker, R. J. Hunt, R. P. Strauss and J. D. Beck
Department of Dental Ecology, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7450, USA.

Previous studies among older adults have demonstrated that oral disease frequently leads to dysfunction, discomfort, and disability. This study aimed to assess variations in the social impact of oral conditions among six strata of people aged 65 years and older: residents of metropolitan Adelaide and rural Mt Gambier, South Australia; residents of metropolitan Toronto-North York and non-metropolitan Simcoe-Sudbury counties, Ontario, Canada; and blacks and whites in the Piedmont region of North Carolina (NC), United States. Subjects were participants in three oral epidemiological studies of random samples of the elderly populations in the six strata. Some 1,642 participants completed a 49-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) questionnaire which asked about impacts caused by problems with the teeth, mouth, or dentures during the previous 12 months. The percentage of dentate people reporting impacts fairly often or very often was greatest among NC blacks for 41 of the OHIP items. Two summary variables of social impact were used as dependent variables in bivariate and multivariate least-squares regression analyses. Among dentate people, mean levels of social impact were greatest for NC blacks and lowest for NC whites, while people from South Australia and Ontario had intermediate levels of social impact (P < 0.01). Missing teeth, retained root fragments, root-surface decay, periodontal pockets, and problem-motivated dental visits were associated with higher levels of social impact (P < 0.05), although there persisted a two-fold difference in social impact across the six strata after adjustment for those factors Among edentulous people, there was no statistically significant variation in social impact among strata. The findings suggest that there are social and cultural factors influencing oral health and its social impact, and that those factors differ most between dentate blacks and whites in NC.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R.E. Nowjack-Raymer and A. Sheiham Numbers of Natural Teeth, Diet, and Nutritional Status in US Adults J. Dent. Res., December 1, 2007; 86(12): 1171 - 1175. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Lopez and V. Baelum Oral Health Impact of Periodontal Diseases in Adolescents J. Dent. Res., November 1, 2007; 86(11): 1105 - 1109. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P.F. Allen, J.M. Thomason, N.J.A. Jepson, F. Nohl, D.G. Smith, and J. Ellis A Randomized Controlled Trial of Implant-retained Mandibular Overdentures. J. Dent. Res., June 1, 2006; 85(6): 547 - 551. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Hyde, W.A. Satariano, and J.A. Weintraub Welfare Dental Intervention Improves Employment and Quality of Life J. Dent. Res., January 1, 2006; 85(1): 79 - 84. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H.L. Bailit Health Services Research Adv. Dent. Res., December 1, 2003; 17(1): 82 - 85. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R.E. Nowjack-Raymer and A. Sheiham Association of Edentulism and Diet and Nutrition in US Adults J. Dent. Res., February 1, 2003; 82(2): 123 - 126. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]