The Oral-systemic Disease Relationship: A Study in Regional NSW

Objectives: An important and often overlooked relationship exists between oral health and systemic health. Complex relationships have been reported between oral health and different systemic diseases. In this study, we acquire, for the first time, demographic and anamnestic data relating to these patients to produce a clearer picture of the systemic disease burden within this population, and further, relating this to oral health. The aim of this study to develop an understanding of the prevalence of systemic diseases in patients presenting for treatment at the CSU Dental Clinics, as well as to determine the connection of these systemic disorders to the dental state of the patient.
Methods: The self-reported medical histories of patients presenting to CSU Dental and Oral Health Clinics in Albury, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga, NSW, between January 2015-October 2016 are being tabulated. We intend to correlate this data with oral health indices, including DMFT and PSR scores. Frequency data and population health statistics are being drawn from the data. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS (v.21.0).
Results: 1471 data entries of male (43.4%) and female (56.6%) patients aged 18-40 (44.1%), 41-60 (32.4%) and >61years (23.6%) have been analysed thus far. It was found that the frequency of hypertension, other cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, cancer, and gastrointestinal, renal, bone and musculoskeletal disorders increased with age, while the frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking, and mood and respiratory disorders decreased with age. The frequency of allergies, immune conditions, over-the-counter and prescription medications, recreational drug use, and central nervous system, blood and other endocrine disorders were not correlated with age.
Conclusions: Chronic disease prevalence in this population is comparable with national data. Age, a known risk factor for poor service utilisation, also correlates with chronic disease. It is expected that indices of oral health will positively correlate with chronic disease prevalence and age.