Oral health and healthcare utilization in Belgian dentate adults

Peter Bottenberg; Jacques Vanobbergen; Dominique Declerck; Joana C Carvalho

doi:10.1111/cdoe.12484

Oral health and healthcare utilization in Belgian dentate adults

Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2019 Oct;47(5):381-388. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12484. Epub 2019 Jul 31.

Authors

Peter Bottenberg¹, Jacques Vanobbergen², Dominique Declerck³, Joana C Carvalho⁴

Affiliations

¹ Oral Health Research Cluster, Free University of Brussels (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
² Community Dentistry and Oral Public Health, Dental School, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
³ Department of Oral Health Sciences, KU Leuven Population Studies in Oral Health, Leuven, Belgium.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium.

PMID: 31368124
DOI: 10.1111/cdoe.12484

Abstract

Objectives: In 2012-2014, the Belgian National Oral Health Data Registration and Evaluation Survey, integrated in the Health Interview Survey (HIS), was carried out. The present study investigated, in a sample of 1340 dentate adults (≥25 years), the association between oral healthcare utilization, oral health status and sociodemographic status.

Methods: A multistage, stratified cluster sampling procedure was used. Oral examination for caries experience (World Health Organization, D₃ MFT-Index), periodontal status (Dutch Periodontal Screening Index, DPS-Index), number of teeth present and occlusal contacts without wearing removable dentures was performed by calibrated examiners. Oral healthcare utilization data were retrieved from the records of the Belgian Intermutualistic Agency. Participants' oral health and sociodemographic data were linked to registered oral care utilization in the previous 5-year period. Regular attenders (annual attenders and those with at least one registered contact in three different years) were compared with irregular attenders (those having had dental visits but not according to the definition of regular attenders) and nonattenders. Data were weighted to compensate for sampling and participation bias.

Results: Six hundred and seventy-nine participants attended regularly, of whom 276 annually; 256 did not attend in the reference period. The overall D₃ MFT-Index was not noticeably different between attendance patterns (varying between 11 and 13), although regular attenders had more restored teeth than nonattenders (P < 0.01). No difference was seen for DPS-Index and number of teeth/occluding pairs (χ² test, P > 0.05). Females, participants with higher education, older participants and those in employment had higher rates of regular attendance.

Conclusions: Regular attenders had fewer untreated caries lesions, but neither lower caries experience nor lower DPS-Index than irregular attenders. Regular attendance was associated with sociodemographic variables.

Keywords: caries; dental health; epidemiology; health services research; periodontal diseases.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Belgium
Dental Care* / statistics & numerical data
Female
Humans
Male
Oral Health*
Patient Acceptance of Health Care* / statistics & numerical data