Satisfaction with dental appearance among diverse groups of dentate adults.
OBJECTIVE
To quantify (a) the prevalence of dissatisfaction with dental appearance in a diverse sample of dentate adults and (b) the associations between dissatisfaction with dental appearance, sociodemographic factors, and other measures of oral health.


METHODS
Data were taken from the Florida Dental Care Study , a population-based longitudinal cohort study of oral health and related behaviors. The sample included 873 participants at baseline. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were conducted to analyze the baseline data in the current report.


RESULTS
Females, problem-oriented dental attenders, and participants who had not completed high school were significantly more dissatisfied with their dental appearance than their respective counterparts. Dissatisfaction with dental appearance was also independently associated with six specific clinical and self-reported measures of oral health.


CONCLUSIONS
Dissatisfaction with dental appearance was common in this population-based sample of middle-aged and older adults, and was significantly associated with key sociodemographic and oral health factors.
Xiaoxian Meng
School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 240 South 40th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. xmeng@dental.upenn.edu
Gilbert
Gregg H
GH
Duncan
R Paul
RP
Heft
Marc W
MW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003729:Dental Care; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D019229:Dentition, Permanent; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors