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Objectives: To find an association between self-reported change in oral health and dental treatment volume. Methods: Baseline data were obtained from the Tasmanian component of the National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004-06 and 12-month follow-up data from service use logbooks and mail self-complete questionnaires. The global oral health transition statement indicated change in oral health. Many putative confounders were analyzed and Poisson regression with robust variance estimation was used to calculate the prevalence ratios and 95 percent confidence intervals for bivariate- and multivariate-adjusted relationships. Results: One-eighth (12.4 percent) of the participants reported that their oral health had improved. Over half visited a dentist ( n = 176, 52.6 percent), of whom 105 received less than six dental services and 71 received six or more dental services. Baseline oral disease ( P = 0.01), having a treatment need ( P < 0.01), usually visiting a dentist for a problem ( P < 0.05), and having a lot of difficulty paying a $100 dental bill ( P = 0.01) were significantly associated with the same or worsening oral health. The regression model indicated that having six or more dental services ( P < 0.01) was significantly associated with improvement in oral health, indicating a threshold effect. Usually visiting a dentist for a check-up was significantly associated with improvement in oral health ( P < 0.01). Conclusion: Having six or more dental services was significantly associated with a greater self-reported improvement in oral health than having less than six dental services. The greater prevalence ratios with increasing dental service volume suggested a threshold effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown variation in long-term dental visiting but little is known about the oral health outcomes of such variation. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the association of different dental visiting trajectories with dental clinical and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) indicators. Methods: This study utilized data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a continuing longitudinal study of 1,037 babies born in Dunedin (New Zealand) between April 1, 1972 and March 31, 1973. Data presented here were collected at ages 15, 18, 26, and 32 years. Three categories of dental attendance were identified in earlier research, namely: regulars ( n = 285, 30.9 percent of the cohort), decliners (441, 55.9 percent), and opportunistic users (107, 13.1 percent). Results: There was a statistically significant association between opportunistic dental visiting behavior and decayed missing and filled surfaces score (Beta = 3.9) as well as missing teeth because of caries (Beta = 0.7). Nonregular dental visiting trajectories were associated with higher Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) scores (Beta = 2.1) and lower self-rated oral health scores (prevalence ratio = 0.8). Conclusion: Long-term, postchildhood dental attendance patterns are associated with oral health in adulthood, whether defined by clinical dental indicators or OHRQoL. Improving dental visiting behavior among low socioeconomic status groups would have the greatest effect on improving oral health and reducing oral health impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to test whether socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood may affect dental visiting patterns between ages 18 and 32 years. Using data from a complete birth cohort, childhood SES status was measured (using the New Zealand Elley-Irving index) at each study stage between birth and 15 years. Longitudinal dental visiting data were available for 833 study participants from ages 15, 18, 26, and 32, and these were analyzed by trajectory analysis. Three separate dental visiting trajectories were identified; these were categorized as opportunists (13.1%), decliners (55.9%), and routine attenders (30.9%). Bivariate analyses showed low SES in childhood, male sex, and dental anxiety to be associated with membership of the 'opportunist' dental visiting trajectory. Multinomial logistic regression showed that low childhood SES and dental anxiety were statistically significant predictors for membership in the opportunist or decliner trajectories after accounting for potential confounding variables. Individuals who grew up experiencing low childhood SES were less likely to adopt a routine dental visiting trajectory in adulthood than those with a high childhood SES. Dental anxiety was also an important predictor of dental visiting patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Modern lifespan oral health research focuses on understanding the impact of periodontitis (or therapy) on clinical and patient-based outcome measures to provide effective care, improve patient safety according to the quality standards. For better targeted intervention and effective disease management, this systematically review aimed to investigate the relationship between non-surgical periodontal therapy and patient-based outcomes using OHIP-14., Methods: Seven Databases were searched for studies on patient-based outcomes responses to periodontal treatment. The time-period defined from search was from January 1977 to January 2019. Two independent reviewers carried out data search, selection of studies, data extraction and quality assessment using Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. Prospective cohort studies, intervention studies and observational studies written in English demonstrating non-surgical periodontal therapy response on the patient-reported outcomes (using Oral Health Impact Profile 14) were included in the review., Results: Thirteen studies were included in the review, which comprised of three randomised control trials, nine case series, and one was a quasi-experimental study. Eleven out of the 13 studies reported significant improvement in OHIP-14 scores amongst participants who had undergone non-surgical periodontal therapy. Physical disability, psychological discomfort and functional limitation were domains that improved significantly after non-surgical periodontal therapy in these studies. Physical pain was a common finding in short-term follow-up but improved significantly in long-term follow-up studies., Conclusion: Based on clinical and patient-based outcomes measurement, it is recommended that non-surgical periodontal therapy is a "gold standard" approach towards improving patient-based outcomes, reducing co-morbidities and enhancing patient safely immediately and in long term., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Timor-Leste struggles with problems of poverty and inequalities that underlie many health disparities, including oral health. This study aimed to determine the association between parental education and dental caries in school children aged 6 to 17 years from 40 randomly selected schools in 4 Dili subdistricts. A questionnaire and oral examination collected data and multivariable log binomial models were used for data analysis. Results indicate no association between parental education level and the prevalence of untreated decay in deciduous teeth ( P = .96). There was an association between parental education level and untreated decay in permanent teeth ( P = .03) and untreated decay overall ( P = .01). Children whose parents had higher education levels have approximately half the relative risk (aRR 0.47, 95% CI 0.25-0.89) of decay compared with children whose parents had low levels of education.

Timor-Leste faces an urgent set of challenges in oral health. The impact of oral diseases in terms of reduced quality of life and cost of treatment is considerable. This paper reviews progress on policy recommendations since the National Oral Health Survey in 2002, the first such national survey. Few proposals have been implemented to date, owing to (i) lack of local support for the recommendations, particularly on promotion of oral health; (ii) lack of financial and budgetary provisions for oral health; (iii) lack of focus on services, human resources and dental personnel; (iv) poor focus, design and implementation of policy and planning in oral health; and (v) lack of transport to facilitate health-care workers' access to remote areas. Based on this assessment, the present paper presents a reconfigured set of policies and recommendations for oral health that take into consideration the reasons for low uptake of previous guidance. Key priorities are promotion of oral health, legislative interventions, education of the oral-health workforce, dental outreach programmes, targeted dental treatment, dental infrastructure programmes, and research and evaluation. Interventions include promotion of oral health for schoolchildren, salt fluoridation, fluoride toothpaste and banning sweet stalls and use of tobacco and betel nut in, or near, schools. Timor-Leste should strengthen the availability and quality of outreach programmes for oral health. Dental therapists and dental nurses who can supply preventive and atraumatic restorative dental care should continue to be trained, and the planned dentistry school should be established. Ongoing research and evaluation is needed to ensure that the approach being used in Timor-Leste is leading to improved outcomes in oral health.

Article Title and Bibliographic Information: Long-term routine dental attendance: influence on tooth loss and oral health-related quality of life in Swedish older adults. Astrøm AN, Ekback G, Ordell S, Nasir E. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2014;42(5):460-69., Reviewer: Leonard A. Crocombe, BDSc, MBA, MPA, PhD PURPOSE/QUESTION: To investigate the effect of long-term dental attendance on oral health-n-related quality of life and tooth loss., Source of Funding: Government: Department of Dentistry, Orebro County; The Dental Commissioning Unit, Ostergotland County, Sweden; NRC Grant 204887/V50., Type of Study/design: Cohort study, Level of Evidence: Level 2: Limited-quality, patient-oriented evidence, Strength of Recommendation Grade: Not applicable., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)