title: Influence of the usual motivation for dental attendance on dental status and oral health-related quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the influence of dental visiting patterns on the dental status and Oral Health-related Quality of Life (OHQoL) of patients visiting the University Clinic of Salamanca (Spain).
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study consisted of a clinical oral examination and a questionnaire-based interviewin a consecutive sample of patients seeking a dental examination. Patients were classified as problem-based dental attendees(PB) and regular dental attendees(RB). Clinical and OHQoL(OHIP-14 & OIDP)data were compared betweengroups. Pair-wise comparisons were performed and a Logistic Regression Model was fitted for predicting the Odds Ratio (OR) of being a PB patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample was composed of 255 patients aged 18 to 87 years (mean age: 63.1 ± 12.7; women: 51.8%). The PB patients had a poorer dental status (i.e. caries, periodontal and prosthetic needs), brushed their teethless,and were significantly more impaired in their OHQoL according to both instruments.The logistic regression coefficients demonstrated that on average the OR of being a PB patient was high in this dental patient sample, but this OR increased significantly if the patient was a male (OR= 1.1-5.0) or referred pain-related impacts according to the OHIP and, additionally, the OR decreased significantly as a function of the number of healthy fillings and the number of sextants coded as CPI=0.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regular dental check-ups are associated with better dental status and a better OHQoL after controlling for potentially related confounding factors.
authors.affiliation: Clínica Odontológica de la Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Salamanca, C/ Alfonso X, El Sabio S/N, Campus de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain, javimont@usal.es.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montero
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albaladejo
authors.forename: José-Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Zalba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009909:Oral Health; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011788:Quality of Life; D055815:Young Adult