title: Factors associated with self-reported number of teeth in a large national cohort of Thai adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral health in later life results from individual's lifelong accumulation of experiences at the personal, community and societal levels. There is little information relating the oral health outcomes to risk factors in Asian middle-income settings such as Thailand today.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data derived from a cohort of 87,134 adults enrolled in Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University who completed self-administered questionnaires in 2005. Cohort members are aged between 15 and 87 years and resided throughout Thailand. This is a large study of self-reported number of teeth among Thai adults. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyse factors associated with self-reported number of teeth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for covariates, being female (OR = 1.28), older age (OR = 10.6), having low income (OR = 1.45), having lower education (OR = 1.33), and being a lifetime urban resident (OR = 1.37) were statistically associated (p < 0.0001) with having less than 20 teeth. In addition, daily soft drink consumptions (OR = 1.41), current regular smoking (OR = 1.39), a history of not being breastfed as a child (OR = 1.34), and mother's lack of education (OR = 1.20) contributed significantly to self-reported number of teeth in fully adjusted analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study addresses the gap in knowledge on factors associated with self-reported number of teeth. The promotion of healthy childhoods and adult lifestyles are important public health interventions to increase tooth retention in middle and older age.
authors: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors: Vasoontara
authors: V
authors: Yiengprugsawan
authors: Tewarit
authors: T
authors: Somkotra
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Kelly
authors: Sam-ang
authors: SA
authors: Seubsman
authors: Adrian C
authors: AC
authors: Sleigh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002253:Carbonated Beverages / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003817:Dentition; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult