Oral health care provided by Greek dentists to persons with physical and/or intellectual impairment.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to register information about the oral health care provided to persons with physical and intellectual impairment (PPII) in Greece and to report the dentists' attitudes towards the provision of oral health care. METHODS: A well-designed questionnaire was used to select information on dentists' socioeconomic data, their office characteristics, the performed oral health care and their views about oral health care delivery for PPII. The final sample consisted of 534 dentists. Descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) has been used for the statistical analysis of the data. RESULTS: Most respondents were general practitioners (79.3%) providing oral health care to PPII, but seven out of ten dentists have not been trained to treat them. According to their opinion, oral health care for PPII demands a lot of time and is hard to accomplish. CONCLUSIONS: Continuing education and training of dentists to treat PPII is essential in Greece.

Oral health care provided by Greek dentists to persons with physical and/or intellectual impairment.

This study evaluated Greek dentists' attitudes toward the provision of oral health care for persons with physical and intellectual impairment (PPII). A questionnaire was used to select information on dentists' socioeconomic data, their office characteristics, oral health care they performed, and their views about oral healthcare delivery for PPII. The final sample consisted of 534 dentists. Descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used for the statistical analysis of the data. Most respondents were general practitioners (79.3%) providing oral health care to PPII, but 70% of the dentists had not been trained to treat them. In their opinion, oral health care for PPII demanded a lot of time and was hard to accomplish. Based on an evaluation of the results, this study suggests that continuing education and training of dentists to treat PPII are essential for this population in Greece.

Self-reported and clinically-diagnosed dental needs: determining the factors that affect subjective assessment.

PURPOSE: The role of demographic, socioeconomic and psychological factors that influence the subjective assessment of dental needs has been the subject of contemporary dental research. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between self-reported and clinically diagnosed dental needs, with the view of understanding the factors that affect subjective assessments of dental problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A random sample of 130 subjects, aged 21 to 63 years, was selected from the non-academic staff members of the Athens University of Economics and Business. Data were obtained for 92% (120 participants) of the sample by a questionnaire-based interview and a clinical examination. The questions concentrated on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the ratings of oral health, the perceived need, oral functional impacts and the level of satisfaction with the appearance. In the clinical examination, the oral health status of the participants was thoroughly recorded. RESULTS: A strong relationship was detected with the presence of caries, badly broken and missing teeth, and self-reported need for care. Embarrassment due to one's dental health was also associated with the perceived need, although satisfaction with the appearance was not. Neither demographic and socioeconomic status nor self-rated oral health was significantly associated with a currently perceived dental problem. CONCLUSION: Perceived need for dental care is affected by parameters other than demographic and socioeconomic status (i.e. parameters that are associated with the presence of symptoms and/or impacts on everyday life). Therefore, functional and psychological impacts of the disease seem to be as important, if not more, as the clinical indicators while estimating the dental needs.