title: Long-term regular dental attendance and periodontal disease in the 1998 adult dental health survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to explore the association between long-term pattern of dental attendance and periodontal disease among British adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from 3272 adults who participated in the 1998 Adult Dental Health Survey in the UK. Participants were classified into four trajectories (current, always, former and never regular attenders) based on their responses to three questions on lifetime dental attendance patterns. The numbers of teeth with pocket depth (PD) ≥4 mm and loss of attachment (LOA) ≥4 mm were the outcome measures. The association between dental attendance patterns and each periodontal measure was assessed in crude and adjusted models using negative binomial regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Never and former regular attenders had more teeth with PD ≥4 mm (Rate Ratios with 95% Confidence Interval: 1.58 [1.28-1.95] and 1.34 [1.12-1.60] respectively) and LOA ≥4 mm (1.34 [1.04-1.72] and 1.37 [1.07-1.75] respectively) than always regular attenders, after adjustments for demographic (sex, age and country of residence) and socioeconomic factors (education and social class). However, no differences in periodontal measures were found between always and current regular attenders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis of national cross-sectional data shows that adults with different long-term patterns of dental attendance have different periodontal health status.
authors.affiliation: King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas Hospitals, Unit of Dental Public Health, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Fazeena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karimalakuzhiyil Alikutty
authors.affiliation: King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas Hospitals, Unit of Dental Public Health, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1858-3713
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bernabé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003729:Dental Care; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D005882:Gingival Diseases; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010510:Periodontal Diseases; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adults; cross-sectional studies; dental care; dental health services/utilization; preventive dentistry