Special Issue "Social and Environmental Determinants of Oral Health"
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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2012)
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The oral health status of populations involves a complex network of determination. There is evidence in the scientific literature on the importance of social determinants of health and specifically in oral health. The investigation of environmental factors on oral health needs to further progress. Knowledge of these determinants allows us to propose strategies for overcoming inequalities in oral health. This is one of the challenges of today's world. This special issue will examine studies of social and environmental determinants of oral health.
Prof. Dr. Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães de Abreu
Guest Editor
Submission
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.
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Keywords
- socioeconomic factors
- oral health
- environmental health
Published Papers (7 papers)
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Received: 23 May 2012; in revised form: 5 July 2012 / Accepted: 12 July 2012 / Published: 25 July 2012
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Abstract: The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of toothaches and to evaluate its effects on the daily lives of adults living in an industrialised region of southeastern Brazil. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 744 individuals. The variables related to toothache were grouped into three components: access to dental service, pain severity, and social/functional impacts. The present study found that 68.0% of the subjects had limited access to oral health care, 39.7% presented high toothache severity, and 47.3% reported that toothache greatly affected their daily lives. Nervousness (87.2%) and chewing difficulty (72.6%) were the most commonly reported toothache-related effects. Through correspondence analysis, four groups with separate profiles for toothache and associated factors were identified. Two groups reported greater effects of toothaches in their daily lives. One group consisted of individuals who had less access to dental services (women and individuals who were multiracial, married, had a middle school education, or a low family income). The other group consisted of individuals who reported a high toothache severity and high degree of social/functional impacts (individuals who were 40 to 44 years old, married or widowed, black or multiracial, and had a middle school education). The other two groups were those whose daily lives were less affected by toothaches. One group consisted of individuals who had greater access to dental services (men and individuals who were divorced, had a college degree, or had incomes greater than R$ 300.01). The final group consisted of individuals who had low toothache severity and a low degree of associated social/functional impacts (individuals who were 35 to 39 years old, white, single, or had a high school education).
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Received: 3 July 2012; in revised form: 27 July 2012 / Accepted: 30 July 2012 / Published: 10 August 2012
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Abstract: Studies have found both genetic and environmental influences on chronic periodontitis. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among previously identified genetic variants, smoking status, and two periodontal disease-related phenotypes (PSR1 and PSR2) in 625 Caucasian adults (aged 18–49 years). The PSR Index was used to classify participants as affected or unaffected under the PSR1 and PSR2 phenotype definitions. Using logistic regression, we found that the form of the relationship varied by single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP): For rs10457525 and rs12630931, the effects of smoking and genotype on risk were additive; whereas for rs10457526 and rs733048, smoking was not independently associated with affected status once genotype was taken into consideration. In contrast, smoking moderated the relationships of rs3870371 and rs733048 with affected status such that former and never smokers with select genotypes were at increased genetic risk. Thus, for several groups, knowledge of genotype may refine the risk prediction over that which can be determined by knowledge of smoking status alone. Future studies should replicate these findings. These findings provide the foundation for the exploration of novel pathways by which periodontitis may occur.
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Received: 6 August 2012; in revised form: 25 September 2012 / Accepted: 25 September 2012 / Published: 28 September 2012
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Abstract: There is little information about health professionals’ behavior regarding oral health care during pregnancy. We evaluated attitudes of obstetricians/gynecologists, nurses, and dentists working at a public community service towards pregnant women’s oral health. Health professionals responded to a self-applied questionnaire. Cluster analysis identified two clusters of respondents; Chi-square, Student’s t test, and logistic regression were used to compare the two clusters in terms of the independent variables. Respondents were categorized into cluster 1 ‘less favorable’ (n = 159) and cluster 2 ‘more favorable’ (n = 124) attitudes. Professionals that had attended a residency or specialization program (OR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.15–3.77, p = 0.016) and worked exclusively at the public service (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.10–4.20, p = 0.025) presented more favorable attitudes. Obstetricians/gynecologists (OR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.09–0.54, p = 0.001) and nurses (OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.29–0.86, p = 0.013) showed less favorable attitudes than dentists. Health care providers’ attitudes regarding pregnant women’s oral health were related to their occupation, qualification, and dedication to the public service.
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Received: 24 July 2012; in revised form: 17 September 2012 / Accepted: 25 September 2012 / Published: 2 October 2012
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Abstract: Aim: This study examined the influence of the social context in which people live on self-ratings of their oral health. Method: This study involved a representative sample of 2,907 South African adults (≥16 years) who participated in the 2007 South African Social Attitude Survey (SASAS). We used the 2005 General Household Survey (n = 107,987 persons from 28,129 households) to obtain living environment characteristics of SASAS participants, including sources of water and energy, and household cell-phone ownership (a proxy measure for the social network available to them). Information obtained from SASAS included socio-demographic data, respondents’ level of trust in people, oral health behaviors and self-rated oral health. Results: Of the respondents, 76.3% self-rated their oral health as good. Social context influenced women’s self-rated oral health differently from that of men. Good self-rated oral health was significantly higher among non-smokers, employed respondents and women living in areas with higher household cell-phone ownership. Furthermore, trust and higher social position were associated with good self-rated oral health among men and women respectively. Overall, 55.1% and 18.3% of the variance in self-rated oral health were explained by factors operating at the individual and community levels respectively. Conclusion: The findings highlight the potential role of social capital in improving the population’s oral health.
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Received: 28 May 2012; in revised form: 10 September 2012 / Accepted: 2 October 2012 / Published: 10 October 2012
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Abstract: Increasing evidence suggests that socioeconomic factors may be associated with an increased risk of dental caries. To provide better evidence of the association between dental caries in adults and socioeconomic indicators, we evaluated the relation between these two conditions in a thorough review of the literature. Seven databases were systematically searched: Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Bireme, Controlled Trials, Clinical Trials and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. No restrictions were placed on the language or year of publication. The search yielded 41 studies for systematic review. Two independent reviewers screened the studies for inclusion, extracted data and evaluated quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The following socioeconomic indicators were found: educational level, income, occupation, socio-economic status and the community index. These indicators were significantly associated with a greater occurrence of dental caries: the subject’s education, subject’s income, subject’s occupation and the Gini coefficient. A high degree of heterogeneity was found among the methods. Quality varied across studies. The criteria employed for socioeconomic indicators and dental caries should be standardized in future studies. The scientific evidence reveals that educational level, income, occupation and the Gini coefficient are associated with dental caries.
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Received: 31 August 2012; in revised form: 9 November 2012 / Accepted: 13 November 2012 / Published: 22 November 2012
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Abstract: The aim of the present study was to test the association between social vulnerability and the prevalence of traumatic dental injury (TDI). A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,556 schoolchildren aged 11 to 14 years in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The participants were examined for TDI using Andreasen’s criteria and those diagnosed with TDI were interviewed to determine the history of the injury. The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was used for socioeconomic classification, which addresses environmental, cultural, economic, legal and security/survival dimensions. The Poisson regression model was used for the multivariate analysis, with the significance level set at 5%. The prevalence of TDI was 14.1%; 59.3% of the participants with TDI did not seek a dentist after the incident. Poorer environmental, economic and legal conditions were statistically associated with the occurrence of untreated TDI (p < 0.05) and all the five SVI dimensions were associated with seeking a dentist due to TDI (p < 0.006). The prevalence of untreated TDI was higher among boys (PR: 1.42; 95%CI: 1.11–1.81) and those in situations of greater social vulnerability (PR: 2.27; 95%CI: 1.11–4.61). In conclusion, the male gender and high social vulnerability proved to be associated with the occurrence of TDI.
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Received: 27 October 2012; in revised form: 25 December 2012 / Accepted: 25 December 2012 / Published: 2 January 2013
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Abstract: This study sought to determine the contributions of socio-economic position and health insurance enrollment in explaining racial disparities in preventive dental visits (PDVs) among South Africans. Data on the dentate adult population participating in the last South African Demographic and Health Survey conducted during 2003–2004 (n = 6,312) was used. Main outcome measure: Reporting making routine yearly PDVs as a preventive measure. Education, material wealth index and nutritional status indicated socio-economic position. Multi-level logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictors of PDVs. A variant of Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis was also conducted. Health insurance coverage was most common among Whites (70%) and least common among black Africans (10.1%) in South Africa. Similarly, a yearly PDV was most frequently reported by Whites (27.8%) and least frequently reported among black Africans (3.1%). Lower education and lower material wealth were associated with lower odds of making PDVs. There was significant interaction between location (urban/rural) and education (p = 0.010). The racial and socio-economic differences in PDVs observed in urban areas were not observed in rural areas. In the general dentate population, having health insurance significantly increased the odds of making PDVs (OR = 4.32; 3.04–6.14) and accounted for 40.3% of the White/non-White gap in the probability of making PDVs. Overall, socio-economic position and health insurance enrollments together accounted for 55.9% (95% CI = 44.9–67.8) of the White/non-White gap in PDVs. Interventions directed at improving both socio-economic position and insurance coverage of non-White South Africans are likely to significantly reduce racial disparities in PDVs.
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these
manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers
submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: On the Absence of Regulations of Adult Dental Services in Norway: A Critical Discourse Analysis
Author: Birgit Abelsen
Affiliation: Northern Research Institute Alta as, Box 1463, N-9506 Alta, Norway; E-Mail: birgita@norut.no; Tel.: +47 78 45 71 14; Fax: +47 78 45 71 01
Abstract: In most countries in which health care is distributed according to the principle of equal access for equal need, we observe extensive public involvement in financing as well as the regulation of providers. In Norway, there is a remarkable contrast when it comes to dentistry. This article inquires as to health policy reasoning to explain why free pricing and free establishment rights remain characteristic features of Norwegian adult dentistry. The public debate following recent suggestions of establishment and pricing regulations is analysed using a critical discourse analysis perspective. This analysis takes into account official documents involved in this specific policy debate as well as the sociocultural context in which these texts are produced and consumed, and the discourse practice level which guides this text’s production and consumption. The analysis shows that free market logic, dentists’ professional status and autonomy arguments came first when the Norwegian government opposed the proposed regulations, while the argument for patient benefit was lost in the process. The powerful positioning of the dentist within the Norwegian oral health care system is seen as being an important factor in explaining the outcome of this debate.
Last update: 25 May 2012
