Change in oral health over three years among family members

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To describe the change in oral health over three years among family members and to identify the baseline indicators that can predict caries increment. METHODS: 354 of 432 families who participated in a baseline survey were successfully contacted and 209 families (59%) were followed up after three years. Data on oral health status, behaviors, knowledge and attitude, dental utilization and socio-demographics were collected. Presence of new/deeper pockets (NP) and increased loss of attachment (LoA) for adults, presence of increased bleeding on probing (BoP) for children and caries increment (number of teeth with new caries, NC) for all participants were computed. Negative binomial regressions (with forward selection method) separately for fathers, mothers and the children were used to investigate the effects of baseline socio-demographics (age, gender, household income, and parental education), oral health behaviours (toothbrushing, flossing, use of mouthrinse, snacking habit, dental insurance coverage, dental visit), oral health knowledge and attitude, and visual plaque level (VPI%) in predicting NC. RESULTS: 209 children (mean age=9.0 years), 195 mothers (mean age=41.1) and 156 fathers (mean age=45.5) were clinically examined. 38% of the children had increased BoP and 37% had developed NC (mean increment=0.7). 37% of the mothers had NP, 41% had increased LoA and 52% had NC (mean=1.1), the corresponding values for fathers were 49%, 58% and 54% (mean=1.3) respectively. While adjusting for the socio-demographics, higher baseline snack score of the children (IRR=1.16, p=0.021), lower baseline household income of the mothers (IRR>1, p=0.034) and higher baseline VPI% of the fathers (IRR=1.15 for every 10% increase, p=0.005) predicted higher NC. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial proportion of the family members had worsened oral health over three years. Significant baseline indicators were found to predict the caries increment of the family members. (Supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong SAR, China; Project No.HKU783111)