Alcohol use, predisposing, enabling, and oral health need variables as predictors of dental service use in the 2002 NHANES

While heavy alcohol use represents an oral cancer risk factor, brief screening and intervention protocols for alcohol--proven efficacious in medical practice settings—have not been adopted in dental settings as part of oral cancer prevention. As the potential to identify drinkers in dental settings will depend upon whether they are more (or less) likely to use dental services, logistic regression analyses of data on 1,921 adults from the 2002 NHANES were conducted specifically to see if alcohol use (measured by weekly frequency, quantity, and total consumption) predicts presence of 1+ dental visits during past year, controlling for Predisposing, Enabling, and Need variables. 55% of respondents reported a dental visit. More frequent drinking (OR = 1.356) and lower weekly consumption (OR = .88) significantly (p < .05) predicted dental visits, though alcohol variables explained less than 1% of dental visit variation—Predisposing (20%), Enabling (19%), and Need (2%) variables explained greater variance. Predisposing predictors included having more than a high school education (increased likelihood, OR = 1.560) and being Black (reduced likelihood, OR = .672). Enabling predictors included Dental Insurance (increased likelihood, OR = 1.50) and having a Regular Dentist (increased likelihood, OR = 9.74). Need variables included active Caries (OR = .67) and Periodontal Problems (OR = .64), both associated with decreased likelihood. Overall, results indicate a small role of alcohol use, with dental visits more likely among more frequent, but lower total volume drinkers. Implications for identifying and intervening with drinkers in dental practice settings will be discussed.