Are dental visiting patterns and oral pain associated with dental disease among Norwegian adults? A cross‐sectional study based on the Tromsø study

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to describe the dental visiting patterns in a Norwegian adult population and their associations with sociodemographic and oral health variables, including oral pain. We further explore if the utilization of dental health services and oral pain predicts caries and periodontitis, the most common oral diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We use data from the seventh wave of the Tromsø study performed in 2015–2016. In this cross‐sectional survey, all residents 40 years or older in Tromsø municipality in Norway were invited, of whom 21,083 (65%) participated. All participants answered questionnaires assessing sociodemographic characteristics, use of health services, and self‐reported health measures, including pain. Almost 4000 participants underwent a dental examination with registration of caries and periodontitis. Associations of dental visiting patterns and utilization of dental services the past 12 months with sociodemographic‐, self‐reported‐, and clinical oral health measures were analyzed by cross‐tabulation and Pearson's χ (2) tests, as well as with logistic regression analyses with caries and periodontitis as outcomes. RESULTS: A regular, annual dental visiting pattern was the most common, but among respondents with severe dental anxiety and poor dental health, visiting for acute problems only or never (symptomatic visiting) was the most common. Intervals of more than 24 months between visits and a symptomatic visiting pattern were associated with caries, whereas shorter than 12‐month intervals and a symptomatic visiting pattern were associated with periodontitis. Many characteristics were shared among respondents with the lowest and the highest utilization of dental services, including oral pain, a difficult financial situation and poorer self‐reported and clinical dental health. CONCLUSIONS: Regular dental visits at 12–24 month intervals were associated with beneficial oral health parameters, compared with more frequent, rarer, and symptomatic dental visiting patterns. Oral pain was an unreliable predictor of caries and periodontitis.