Association between more complex special care needs and overweight status and adolescents' difficulty with dental caries

Vinodh Bhoopathi; Christine Wells; Gina Tripicchio; Nini Chaichanasakul Tran

doi:10.1111/jphd.12622

Association between more complex special care needs and overweight status and adolescents' difficulty with dental caries

J Public Health Dent. 2024 May 11. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12622. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Vinodh Bhoopathi¹, Christine Wells², Gina Tripicchio³, Nini Chaichanasakul Tran⁴

Affiliations

¹ Section of Public and Population Oral Health, University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Statistical Methods and Data Analytics, University of California at Los Angeles Office of Advanced Research Computing, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Obesity Research and Education, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁴ Section of Pediatric Dentistry, University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, California, USA.

PMID: 38733308
DOI: 10.1111/jphd.12622

Abstract

Objective: Little is known about dental caries experience in adolescents with overweight and complex special health care needs (SHCNs).

Methods: Adolescent data (10-17 years) from the 2016-2020 National Survey of Children's Health (n = 91,196) was analyzed. The sample was grouped into the following: more complex SHCN and overweight, more complex SHCN without overweight, less complex SHCN and overweight, less complex SHCN without overweight, no SHCN but with overweight, and neither SHCN nor overweight. A multivariable-adjusted logistic regression model was conducted.

Results: Adolescents with more complex SHCNs with (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.44-2.30, p < 0.001) or without overweight (OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.30-1.76, p < 0.001) were at higher odds of experiencing dental caries compared to healthy adolescents. No significant associations were observed between adolescents with less complex or no SHCN regardless of the overweight status with healthy adolescents.

Conclusions: Adolescents with more complex SHCNs, irrespective of overweight status, experienced a higher caries severity than adolescents with no SHCNs or overweight.

Keywords: adolescents; dental caries; medical complexity; medical home; obesity; overweight; special health care needs.

Abstract

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