title: Welfare dental intervention improves employment and quality of life.
abstract: Chronic, untreated oral disease adversely affects one's systemic health, quality of life, and economic productivity. This study evaluated the effect of rehabilitative dental treatment on the oral-health-related quality of life and employment of welfare recipients. Three hundred and seventy-seven participants in a novel welfare dental program received oral examinations, questionnaires, and rehabilitative dental treatment. Seventy-nine percent of participants exhibited improvement in their oral-health-related quality-of-life scores following dental treatment. Improved OHIP-14 change scores were associated with being Caucasian or African-American, initial poor general health, severity of treatment urgency, worse baseline oral-health-related quality-of-life scores, subsequent patient satisfaction with the Dental Program, and resolution of their chief complaint (all p < 0.04). Those who completed their dental treatment were twice as likely to achieve a favorable/neutral employment outcome (OR = 2.01, 95%CI = 1.12, 3.62). Thus, oral health improved the quality of life and employment outcome for this welfare population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Oral Epidemiology and Dental Public Health, University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry, 3333 California Street, Suite 495, San Francisco, CA 94143-1361, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hyde
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Satariano
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Weintraub
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003729:Dental Care; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009909:Oral Health; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012495:San Francisco; D012946:Social Welfare; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People