Individual- and City-Level Socioeconomic Factors and Tooth Loss among Elderly People: A Cross-Level Multilevel Analysis.

This study aimed to test the association of contextual and individual socioeconomic status with tooth loss among Brazilian elderly people aged 65-74 years. Data from 5435 elderly participants from the Brazilian National Oral Health Survey (2010) were linked to city-level data for 27 state capitals and the Federal District. Tooth loss was clinically assessed according to the number of missing natural teeth. Contextual social variables included Human Development Index income (HDI-income) and HDI-education. Individual socioeconomic measures were monthly family income and years of schooling. Covariates included sex, skin colour, number of residents per room and number of goods. Multilevel Negative Binomial regression models were used to estimate rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals between contextual and individual variables and tooth loss. Contextual and individual income and education measures were consistently associated with tooth loss. Elderly people living in cities with low HDI-income and low HDI-education were respectively 21% and 33% more likely to present tooth loss. Cross-level interaction suggested that the relationship of lower income and lower schooling with tooth loss is different across levels of city-level income and city-level education inequality, respectively. Public policies aiming to reduce the income and education gaps and preventive dental interventions are imperative to tackle tooth loss among elderly people.

Multimorbidity patterns of oral clinical conditions, social position, and oral health-related quality of life in a population-based survey of 12-yr-old children.

The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of multimorbidities of oral clinical conditions in children. The association between social position and number of oral clinical conditions, and the relationship of social position and number of oral clinical conditions with oral health-related quality of life [OHRQoL, measured using the Brazilian Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (Child-OIDP)] were also investigated. The study analysed data on 7,208 children, 12 yr of age, from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SBBrasil Project). Cluster analysis based on the observed/expected (O/E) ratios identified six significant clusters of oral clinical conditions: (i) dental caries and missing teeth; (ii) dental caries and dental trauma; (iii) dental trauma and gingivitis; (iv) dental caries, missing teeth, and dental trauma; (v) dental caries, dental trauma, and gingivitis; and (vi) all oral clinical conditions. Ordinal regression showed that poor social position was associated with a large number of oral clinical conditions. Poisson regression demonstrated that low social position and greater number of oral clinical conditions increased the likelihood of poor OHRQoL (Child-OIDP extent). The four oral clinical conditions clustered into six distinct clusters among Brazilian children. Multimorbidity of oral clinical conditions predicted poor OHRQoL. Social position was of high relevance to multimorbidity of oral clinical conditions and children's OHRQoL.

Low Social Position, Periodontal Disease, and Poor Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Adults With Systemic Arterial Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: There is little evidence on the association between periodontal disease and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in individuals with chronic diseases, including hypertension. The aim of this study is to identify relationships among sociodemographic characteristics, smoking, tooth loss, dental caries, periodontal status, and OHRQoL in adults with systemic arterial hypertension. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involving 195 adults (mean age: 55.7 years) with systemic arterial hypertension used interviews and oral examinations to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, income); use of antihypertensive medication; smoking; tooth loss; dental caries; periodontal status (bleeding on probing, calculus, and attachment loss); and OHRQoL/oral health impact profile. The Wilson and Cleary (Wilson IB, Cleary PD. JAMA 1995;273:59-65) conceptual model was used to test direct and indirect relationships among variables using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Lower age, male sex, smoking, and lower income directly predicted worse periodontal status. Tooth loss, dental caries, worse periodontal status, and smoking were directly linked to poor OHRQoL. Age was indirectly linked to worse periodontal status via income. Income and smoking indirectly predicted poor OHRQoL via periodontal status. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support an effect of periodontal disease on OHRQoL in people with systemic arterial hypertension. Periodontal status mediated associations of sociodemographic characteristics and smoking with OHRQoL through different pathways.