Taraneh Movahhed
1, Behjatalmolook Ajami
2, Mojtaba Dorri
3, Nima Biouki
4, Hadi Ghasemi
5, Mohammad Taghi Shakeri
6, Mahboobe Dehghani
7*1 Assistant Professor of Pediatric Dentistry, Dental Material Research Center, Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Mashhad Uni-versity of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
2 Associate Professor of Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mash-had, Iran
3 DDS MSc PhD, College London Dental Institute, University College London, London, UK
4 Postgraduate student of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
5 Assistant Professor of Community Dentistry, Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6 Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Biostatics, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
7 Assistant Professor of Orthodontics, Dental Research Center, School of Dentistry, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
Background and aims. Tooth loss may lead to mastication disability, which in turn has important impact on individual’s quality of life. Social and psychological factors have been shown to be associated with tooth loss. This study aimed to in-vestigate the social determinants and prevalence of tooth loss, and presence of functional dentition among female heads of household under support of Welfare Organization in Mashhad, Iran.Materials and methods. In current study 556 participants aged 16-76 years were recruited. Sociodemographic character-istics (age, level of education, family size, and monthly income) were collected using interviewer-led questionnaire. Data about number of teeth and functional dentition were obtained by oral examination. The data were analyzed using Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, T-test and binary logistic regression analysis.Results. Four percent of participants were edentulous. Tooth loss was significantly associated with level of education, age and family size (P < 0.001). There was no significant association between level of income and tooth loss (P = 0.88). Only 37.5% of dentate subjects had functional dentition (anterior and premolar teeth). Women older than 40 years were 0.63 times less likely to have functional dentition than those younger than 40 years. Females with at least a high-school diploma were six times more likely to have functional dentition than their illiterate counterparts.Conclusion. Social determinants of functional dentition should be taken into account when planning oral health promoting programs for female heads of household. For reducing oral health inequalities access to dental services should be facilitated.