Tooth loss, inequality, alienation and ideology (original) (raw)
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Understanding the ‘epidemic’ of complete tooth loss among older New Zealanders
Gerodontology, 2009
Objective: The aim of this study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the social factors driving New Zealand's historic 'epidemic of edentulism' and how they operated. Method: In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 31 older New Zealanders were analysed using applied grounded theory. Results: Universal factors present in the data were: (a) the way in which New Zealand society accepted and indeed encouraged edentulism without stigma for those who had a 'sub-optimal' natural dentition; (b) how the predominant patterns of dental care utilisation (symptomatic and extraction-based) were often strongly influenced by economic and social disadvantage; and (c) the way in which lay and professional worldviews relating to 'calcium theory' and dental caries were fundamental in decisions relating to the transition to edentulism. Major influences were rural isolation, the importance of professional authority and how patient-initiated transitions to edentulism were ultimately facilitated by an accommodating profession. Conclusion: The combined effects of geography, economics, the dental care system and the professional culture of the day, in the context of contemporary (flawed) understandings of oral disease, appear to have been the key drivers. These were supported (in turn) by a widespread acceptance by the profession and society alike of the extraction/denture philosophy in dealing with oral disease.
Tooth Loss in the United Kingdom – Trends in Social Inequalities: An Age-Period-and-Cohort Analysis
PLoS ONE, 2014
This study assessed trends in social inequalities in tooth loss in the United Kingdom between 1988 and 2009. Data from 20,126 adults who participated in the latest three national Adult Dental Health Surveys in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were used. Social class was determined using the 6-point Registrar General's Social Class. Three indicators of tooth loss were analysed; the proportion of edentate people among all adults and the number of teeth and the proportion with functional dentition (defined as having 20+ teeth) among dentate adults. Trends were modelled within an age, period and cohort framework using partial least squares regression (PLSR). Confidence intervals for PLSR estimates were obtained using non-parametric bootstrapping. The Slope and Relative Index of Inequality (SII and RII) were used to quantify social inequalities in tooth loss. Between 1988 and 2009, absolute inequalities in total tooth loss narrowed (SII changed from 2 28.4% to 215.3%) while relative inequalities widened (RII from 6.21 to 20.9) in the whole population. On the other hand, absolute and relative social inequality in tooth loss remained fairly stable over time among dentate adults. There was an absolute difference of 2.5-2.9 in number of teeth and 22-26% in the proportion with functional dentition between the lowest and highest social classes. In relative terms, the highest social class had 10-11% more teeth and 25-28% higher probability of having functional dentition than the lowest social class. The findings show pervasive inequalities in tooth loss by social class among British adults despite marked improvements in tooth retention in recent years and generations. In the whole adult population, absolute inequalities in tooth loss have narrowed while relative inequalities have increased steadily. Among dentate adults, absolute and relative inequalities in number of teeth and proportion of people with functional dentition have remained significant but unchanged over time.
Tooth Loss, the Culture of Dentistry and the Delivery of Dental Care in New Zealand
Community Health Studies, 1981
Compared to questions about the structure and financing of "health services", relatively little public debate has occurred in Australia and New Zealand in relation to dental health needs and services. As the priorities of the community move towards a greater emphasis on preventive measures in the health domain at large, important questions arise about the possibilities for, and impediments to. "preventive" dental health care. It may becoincidence. or it may reflect a n emergent shared concern, that three independent papers recently submitted to this journal each address basic questions about the social, cultural and professional factors that bear on the current paltern of community dental attitudes and behaviour, dental needs, professional behaviour and expectations, and dental care delivery. Two papers from New Zealand [Davis, and Wright and Beck) examine, respectively, social class differences in dental health status. treatment preference. and accessibility to dental services within the adult population at large, and the determinants of dental knowledge and attitudes in school children. Davis concludes that socio-cultural differences account for obvious variations in the pattern of adult dental care and health. Wright and Beck present a sobering argument that questions the facile public health dogma that "dental health education of children is of prime importance". They suggest that the effectiveness of dental education is limited unless accompanied by continued community-wide access to dental care. The third paper, by Hicks and Newcomb, entails a more fundamental social analysis of the pattern of dental behaviour and treatment services. In treating dental care as II "social system". they probe the incongruities, the differences. betwpen the dents! professions behaviour and expectations and the precepts. expectations and needsof the public. They suggest that valueconflicts between professional ano lay persons, between oureaucratic organisation and personal client need, and between middle-class and lower-class, are a current impediment to more effective provision and use of dental health services. As a package these three complementary papers should help stimulate a timely reappraisal of the means of providingeffective dental health maintenance and care.
Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 2020
Objectives: Following community dwelling cohorts in Norway and Sweden from 65 to 70 years, this study aimed to answer the following questions; Is there cross country variation in educational inequality in tooth loss between the Norwegian and Swedish cohorts? Does oral health behaviours and attitudinal beliefs play a role in explaining educational inequality in tooth loss across time and cohorts? Material and Methods: In 2007 and 2012 Statistics Norway administered mailed questionnaires to all individuals born in 1942 in three counties. The response rate was 58% (n ¼ 4211) in 2007 and 54.5% (n ¼ 3733) in 2012. In Sweden the same questionnaires were sent to the 1942 cohort in two counties. The final response rate in 2007 and 2012 were respectively, 73.1% (n ¼ 6078) and 72.2% (n ¼ 5697). Results: In Norway, tooth loss prevalence was 21.8% in 2007 and 23.2% in 2012. Corresponding figures in Sweden were 25.9% and 27.3%. The prevalence of tooth loss was higher among lower than higher educated participants and the gradient was significantly weaker in Sweden than in Norway. Multiple variable analyses adjusting for oral behavioural and attitudinal variables attenuated education related gradients in both cohorts. Conclusion: Education related inequality in tooth loss was stronger in the Norwegian than in the Swedish cohort across the survey years. Oral behaviours and attitudinal beliefs played a role in explaining the gradients across time. This illustrates a necessity to promote oral health enhancing behaviours and attitudinal beliefs, particularly so in lower educational groups.
European Journal of Oral Sciences, 2014
This study examined the relationship of trajectories in social condition with oral attitudes and major tooth loss, using the social mobility and accumulation lifecourse models in a cohort. Whether social-condition inequalities remained stable or changed from 65 yr of age to 70 yr of age was investigated. In 1992, 6,346 inhabitants born in 1942 and residing in two Swedish counties agreed to participate in a prospective survey. Of the participants in 1992, 3,585 (47.6% men) completed questionnaires in 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. In line with the social-mobility model, the prevalence of negative oral attitudes and major tooth loss in participants at 65 and 70 yr of age showed a consistent gradient according to social-condition trajectory, whereby it was lowest among those who were persistently high and highest among those who were persistently low, with the upwardly and downwardly mobile categories being intermediate. A linear graded association between the number of periods with disadvantaged social condition and oral health supported the accumulation model. Both the social mobility and accumulation life-course models were supported. Social-condition differentials in negative oral attitudes and tooth loss seem to remain stable or to narrow weakly after the usual age of retirement.
Inequalities in oral health practices and social space: An exploratory qualitative study
Health Policy, 2008
This study analyzed the oral health practices and access to dental care of individuals according to their position in social space. The rationale was based on the hypothesis that different positions in social space may imply different habitus, in the sense conferred by Bourdieu. Such dispositions would influence practical behavior, choices and preferences in general and in this context, dental care. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were carried out with individuals, as part of a multiple case study carried out in two municipalities in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Differences were found between the two study groups both with respect to actions of personal care and in seeking and using dental services. This, in addition to poor material and living conditions, and difficult access to restorative dental work in the public sector, may explain part of the pattern of tooth loss found in the adult Brazilian population. The adoption of effective communicative and educational actions by health professionals should be stimulated. However, the structural dimension of the social determinants requires transformations in the structures that generate the perceptions and practices of agents. The study discusses the implications of these data to public dental policies that are focused on reducing these inequalities.
Inequalities in oral health: the role of sociology
Community dental health, 2016
This paper seeks to identify an important point of contact between the literature on inequalities in oral health and the sociology of power. The paper begins by exploring the problem of social inequalities in oral health from the point of view of human freedom. It then goes on to briefl y consider why inequalities in oral health matter before providing a brief overview of current approaches to reducing inequalities in oral health. After this the paper briefl y introduces the problem of power in sociology before going on to outline why the problem of power matters in the problem of inequalities in oral health. Here the paper discusses how two key principles associated with the social bond have become central to how we think about health related inequalities. These principles are the principle of treating everyone the same (the principle of autonomy) and the related principle of allowing everyone to pursue their own goals (the principle of intimacy). These principles are outlined and subsequently discussed in detail with application to debates about interventions to reduce oral health related inequalities including that of water fl uoridation. The paper highlights how the 'Childsmile' programme in Scotland appears to successfully negotiate the tensions inherent in attempting to do something about inequalities in oral health. It then concludes by highlighting some of the tensions that remain in attempting to alleviate oral health related inequalities.
BMC Oral Health, 2015
Background: A life course perspective recognizes influences of socially patterned exposures on oral health across the life span. This study assessed the influence of early and later life social conditions on tooth loss and oral impacts on daily performances (OIDP) of people aged 65 and 70 years. Whether social inequalities in oral health changed after the usual age of retirement was also examined. In accordance with "the latent effect life course model", it was hypothesized that adverse early-life social conditions increase the risk of subsequent tooth loss and impaired OIDP, independent of later-life social conditions. Methods: Data were obtained from two cohorts studies conducted in Sweden and Norway. The 2007 and 2012 waves of the surveys were used for the present study. Early-life social conditions were measured in terms of gender, education and country of birth, and later-life social conditions were assessed by working status, marital status and size of social network. Logistic regression and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to analyse the data. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was used to adjust estimates for missing responses and loss to follow-up. Results: Early-life social conditions contributed to tooth loss and OIDP in each survey year and both countries independent of later-life social conditions. Lower education correlated positively with tooth loss, but did not influence OIDP. Foreign country of birth correlated positively with oral impacts in Sweden only. Later-life social conditions were the strongest predictors of tooth loss and OIDP across survey years and countries. GEE revealed significant interactions between social network and survey year, and between marital status and survey year on tooth loss. Conclusion: The results confirmed the latent effect life course model in that early and later life social conditions had independent effects on tooth loss and OIDP among the elderly in Norway and Sweden. Between age 65 and 70, inequalities in tooth loss related to marital status declined, and inequalities related to social network increased.