Explanatory models for oral health expressed as number of remaining teeth in an adult population.
OBJECTIVE
To develop explanatory models for oral health expressed as the number of remaining teeth.


METHODS
Socio-economic attributes, health factors, dental attitudes and behaviours were used as explanatory variables in a logistic regression. Cross-sectional validated questionnaire data from all 50-year-old residents in two Swedish counties were collected from 8,888 persons, a response rate of 71.4% (n = 6,343). Adjusted number of teeth and three dichotomies of edentulousness and remaining teeth in various combinations were used as the dependent variables.


RESULTS
Social class was unrelated to edentulousness, while individual and health factors were covariants. Individuals with < or = 8 teeth had a social class and education gradient, while those with > or = 25 teeth had class and education gradients as well as a relation to dental care utilisation. There were only three variables showing a consistent and stable relation to the various dependent variables, these were use of tobacco, having only junior high school education and satisfaction with dental care. The multiple and logistic regression models revealed different results.


CONCLUSIONS
The main conclusions from this study were, first, that there were different mechanisms for different states of the dentition, interpreted as signs of disease and signs of health, corresponding to the ideas of patho- and salutogenesis, and secondly, that number of teeth present is not usable as a continuous variable, since it does not reflect the same mechanisms across the whole scale.
Unell
L
L
Community Dental Health Unit, Orebro County Council, Sweden.
Söderfeldt
B
B
Halling
A
A
Birkhed
D
D
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000145:classification*; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009909:Oral Health; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012907:Smoking; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden