title: Dental treatment needs and health care-seeking behaviours of patients with acute odontogenic infections in Lithuania.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess patients with acute odontogenic maxillofacial infections (AOMIs), regarding their functional dentition and dental treatment needs, and identify factors explaining these outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  During a 1-year period, 160 patients with AOMIs were treated at the specialised dental care centre of Vilnius University. Both oral status and specific dental treatment needs were evaluated for each patient. For the restorative dental treatment need, we examined if patients needed fillings, crowns or bridges. Periodontal dental treatment needs were based only on the most severe cases, and patients were allocated either to a group for which periodontal treatment was recommended or to a group that did not need periodontal treatment. Based on these clinical assessments, four ratios for specific dental treatment needs (restorations, extractions, endodontic treatment and periodontal treatment) and two summative ratios (total dental treatment needs and presence of a functional dentition) were calculated. The questionnaire included variables from various domains.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with AOMIs retained one-third of their functional dentition and the mean ± standard deviation of their total dental treatment needs was 46.0 ± 29.7%, of which 32.4 ± 17.1% related to the need for restorations. Higher dental treatment needs were associated with a low level of education, low income, irregular oral self-care, systemic diseases and self-treatment of acute dental conditions before seeking professional help.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with AOMIs retained one-third of their functional dentition, and almost half of their dentition were in need of dental treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Odontology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Rūta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rastenienė
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive and Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aleksejūnienė
authors.affiliation: Institute of Odontology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pūrienė
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003442:Crowns / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003829:Denture, Partial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004194:Disease; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008097:Lithuania; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012648:Self Care; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dental treatment needs; acute odontogenic infections; care-seeking behaviours