Change in oral health impacts after dental treatment

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the change in perceived oral health impacts on daily living after dental treatment using Oral Health Impact on Daily Living Questionnaire (OHIDL). Method: Data was collected through OHIDL, which was developed to measure the perceived oral health impacts on daily living and their change. Older adults aged 55+ years were asked to report the oral health problems they experienced and to rate the intensity level of each of the 16 impact items before and after the dental treatment. Participants also retrospectively rated the change of the intensity (transition) after the treatment. The intensity and the transition scores were calculated through summing up the responses. Multiple linear regressions were employed to predict change in oral health impacts after dental treatment.

Result: Among the 250 subjects who received dental treatment, 176 were followed up (70.4%). Subjects received 12 types of dental treatment and 54% of the subjects had received multiple treatment items. After the dental treatment, the mean number of oral health problems decreased from 4.8 to 2.7 (p<0.05) and the intensity score were significantly reduced from 9.31 to 4.45 (p<0.001). The total transition score ranged from -11 to 39 with a mean value of 4.79 (SD = 8.02). Most of the subjects rated the overall perceived oral health impacts as improved (58%). Patients who perceived more oral health impacts at baseline and had received endodontic treatment had more improvement in perceived oral health impacts.

Conclusion: After receiving dental treatment, older adults perceived fewer oral health problems and positive change in the oral health impacts on daily living.