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Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults

The growing geriatric population is facing numerous economic challenges and oral health changes. This study explores the relationship between affordability of dental care and untreated root caries among older American adults, and whether that relationship is independent of ethnicity and socioeconomi...

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Autores principales: Badr, Fatma, Sabbah, Wael
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7698597/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33212971
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228523
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author Badr, Fatma
Sabbah, Wael
author_facet Badr, Fatma
Sabbah, Wael
author_sort Badr, Fatma
collection PubMed
description The growing geriatric population is facing numerous economic challenges and oral health changes. This study explores the relationship between affordability of dental care and untreated root caries among older American adults, and whether that relationship is independent of ethnicity and socioeconomic factors. Data from 1776 adults (65 years or older) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed. The association between affordability of dental care and untreated root caries was assessed using logistic regression models. Findings indicated that untreated root caries occurred in 42.5% of those who could not afford dental care, and 14% of those who could afford dental care. Inability to afford dental care remained a statistically significant predictor of untreated root caries in the fully adjusted regression model (odds ratio 2.79, 95% confidence interval: 1.78, 4.39). Other statistically significant predictors were gender (male), infrequent dental visits, and current smoking. The study concludes that the inability to afford dental care was the strongest predictor of untreated root caries among older Americans. The findings highlight the problems with access to and use of much needed dental services by older adults. Policy reform should facilitate access to oral healthcare by providing an alternative coverage for dental care, or by alleviating the financial barrier imposed on older adults.
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spelling pubmed-76985972020-11-29 Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults Badr, Fatma Sabbah, Wael Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The growing geriatric population is facing numerous economic challenges and oral health changes. This study explores the relationship between affordability of dental care and untreated root caries among older American adults, and whether that relationship is independent of ethnicity and socioeconomic factors. Data from 1776 adults (65 years or older) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed. The association between affordability of dental care and untreated root caries was assessed using logistic regression models. Findings indicated that untreated root caries occurred in 42.5% of those who could not afford dental care, and 14% of those who could afford dental care. Inability to afford dental care remained a statistically significant predictor of untreated root caries in the fully adjusted regression model (odds ratio 2.79, 95% confidence interval: 1.78, 4.39). Other statistically significant predictors were gender (male), infrequent dental visits, and current smoking. The study concludes that the inability to afford dental care was the strongest predictor of untreated root caries among older Americans. The findings highlight the problems with access to and use of much needed dental services by older adults. Policy reform should facilitate access to oral healthcare by providing an alternative coverage for dental care, or by alleviating the financial barrier imposed on older adults. MDPI 2020-11-17 2020-11 /pmc/articles/PMC7698597/ /pubmed/33212971 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228523 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Badr, Fatma
Sabbah, Wael
Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults
title Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults
title_full Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults
title_fullStr Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults
title_full_unstemmed Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults
title_short Inequalities in Untreated Root Caries and Affordability of Dental Services among Older American Adults
title_sort inequalities in untreated root caries and affordability of dental services among older american adults
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7698597/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33212971
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228523
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