Periodontal health and OH-QoL of medical outpatient clinics attenders

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Individuals with poor periodontal health report lower oral health-related quality of life (OH-QoL). People with poor systemic health could be at increased risk for periodontitis and hence experience lower OH-QoL. This study investigated the level of OH-QoL in individuals attending medical outpatient clinics and surveyed their periodontal status. METHODS: This study surveyed patients (mean 55.2±6.9yr, 55.9% female) attending Diabetic (n=76) or Gerneral Outpatient (GOPC, non-DM individuals, n=76) Clinics of a regional Hospital, servicing Eastern Hong Kong Island. Participants completed a questionnaire on background information, and the Chinese short form of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP14S), followed by dental and periodontal assessment. Relevant medical data were also collected. RESULTS: 51.3% GOPC patients suffered from some form of chronic disease other than DM. The HbA1c and FPG levels of the DM individuals were 7.9±1.5% and 8.5±2.7mmol/l, respectively. Mean CAL and DMFT surveyed patients were 3.6±1.4mm and 7.5±4.9, and in general they had very poor oral hygiene (PI% = 82.7±12.9%), gingival inflammation (BOP% = 62.5±21.4%), and poor OH-QoL (OHIP14S = 9.8±9.7). DM patients had significantly more missing teeth than GOPC patients (4.8 vs. 2.6, p=0.001). Stepwise linear regression analysis showed mean CAL was associated with older age, male gender, deeper PPD and less standing teeth; mean PPD was associated with higher CAL, more standing teeth and higher BOP%; while mean OHIP14S score was associated with female gender and higher BOP%, after adjustment for confounding factors (P<0.05).CONCLUSIONS: Patients attending outpatient clinics of a hospital in Hong Kong were found to have poor oral hygiene, gingival inflammation, poor periodontal status and relatively poor OH-QoL. DM patients had fewer teeth. Dentists could pay more attention to females with high BOP% attending GOPC as that they may be experiencing poorer OH-QoL.