Attitudes to the importance of retaining natural teeth in an adult Swedish population.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the attitudes to retaining natural teeth in an adult Swedish population, and to correlate the attitude to retaining natural teeth with some presumed influencing background factors.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study using a newly developed questionnaire.


METHODS
From the national census register of four municipalities in the southern part of the province of Holland, Sweden, with a total population of 126,878 adult (> or = 20 years) inhabitants, 4,200 persons were selected at random. The sample was randomised by age and sex, and 300 men and 300 women from the age groups 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 years were included.


METHODS
The questionnaire aimed to evaluate the number of remaining natural teeth, the dental care habits, the self-estimated quality of natural teeth, and the attitude to retaining natural teeth in the studied population, and also to evaluate the possible correlation between those factors, in particular, the attitude to retaining natural teeth versus the other factors.


RESULTS
It was found that the attitude to the importance of retaining natural teeth was strongly correlated with the number of remaining natural teeth, the dental care habits, and the self-estimated quality of natural teeth. Also sex had an influence on this attitude but not age.


CONCLUSIONS
The attitude to the importance of retaining natural teeth in an adult Swedish population is correlated with the number of remaining natural teeth, the dental care habits, the self-estimated quality of natural teeth, and sex, but not with age.
Nederfors
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Department of Dentistry, Central Hospital, Halmstad, Sweden. tommy.nederfors@lih.lthalland.se
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000523:psychology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000523:psychology*