Socio-demographic Determinants of Teeth Loss among Diabetic and Non-Diabetic American Adults, BRFSS, 2010

Objectives: Oral health has been shown to have a great impact on the general health and the overall quality of life of an individual. Individuals who lose teeth have compromised nutritional intake; furthermore, studies have shown disparities among the social and psychological impacts of oral health. The problem is exacerbated among diabetic patients who improperly manage the disease. The presence of diabetes in an individual also increases the risk of periodontal disease problems. Methods: Dental services were measured by the number of visits to a dentist, and whether or not the patient had their teeth cleaned within a 12-month period. We estimated the risk of the loss of teeth among diabetic and non-diabetic adults in the US. Data for adult Americans from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n=411,201) were analyzed using the STATA 12 software package for Windows. In addition to descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis was performed to determine association between the covariates and loss of teeth. Further, we generated logistic regression models. Results: Preliminary results suggest that, gender, education, income, alcohol intake, overweight, cigarette smoking, general health status lack of exercise, race/ethnicity and the lack of preventive dental care are significantly associated with increased risk for tooth loss (p=0.000). Conclusion: Strategies for increasing dental services use will be discussed along with detailed results of the regression analysis.