title: Long-term patterns of dental attendance and caries experience among British adults: a retrospective analysis.
abstract: There is inconclusive evidence on the value of regular dental attendance. This study explored the relationship between long-term patterns of dental attendance and caries experience. We used retrospective data from 3,235 adults, ≥ 16 yrs of age, who participated in the Adult Dental Health Survey in the UK. Participants were classified into four groups (always, current, former, and never regular-attenders) based on their responses to three questions on lifetime dental-attendance patterns. The association between dental-attendance patterns and caries experience, as measured using the decayed, missing, or filled teeth (DMFT) index, was tested in negative binomial regression models, adjusting for demographic (sex, age, and country of residence) and socio-economic (educational attainment, household income, and social class) factors. A consistent pattern of association between long-term dental attendance and caries experience was found in adjusted models. Former and never regular-attenders had a significantly higher DMFT score and numbers of decayed and missing teeth, but fewer filled teeth, than always regular-attenders. No differences in DMFT or its components were found between current and always regular-attenders. The findings of this study show that adults with different lifetime trajectories of dental attendance had different dental statuses.
authors.affiliation: Division of Population and Patient Health, King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals, London, UK.
authors.forename: Arwa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aldossary
authors.forename: Victoria E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bernabé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: dental care; dental health services/utilization; oral diagnosis; preventive dentistry; retrospective studies