title: Dental Attendance and Self-reported Oral Health Status of Renal Dialysis Patients: A Comparison of Results with the UK Adult Dental Health Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the oral health status of renal patients attending a dialysis unit at a London teaching hospital with an age- and sex-matched sample from the Adult Dental Health Survey UK (ADHS) 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questions adapted from the ADHS 2009 national survey were used to interview renal dialysis patients about their oral health, oral hygiene and dental visits. Any significant differences between the two groups were statistically analysed using the chi-squared (χ2) test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred renal dialysis patients participated. More renal dialysis patients were edentulous (p < 0.0001) and those who were dentate had fewer teeth (p < 0.0001) compared to the ADHS 2009 participants. Although 12% of the renal dialysis patients had difficulty in finding a dentist, 77% were linked to a dental practice, but fewer reported that they had previously been shown how to brush their teeth compared to the dentate ADHS group (p < 0.0001). The frequency of brushing (twice daily) was similar in the dialysis and ADHS groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness for good oral health needs to be raised in this group of medically compromised patients regularly attending a hospital unit. The responsibility for achieving this goal needs to be shared by both dialysis teams and oral health care professionals. We suggest an 'oral health toolkit' be made available in dialysis units for both professionals and patients.
authors.forename: Serpil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Djemal
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rumjon
authors.forename: Iain C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Macdougall
authors.forename: Parmjit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warnakulasuriya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D057566:Self Report; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult