Pilot Study: Oral Health Status of Population in Utah

Objectives: To evaluate the oral health status and treatment needs of a Utah population relative to their demographic characteristics.
Methods: Approval from the University of Utah Institutional Review Board (IRB) was obtained for this project. A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the data collected among Utah residentsage 1 to 96years old that consented to provide demographic information as well as clinical evaluation data during outreach activities of the University of Utah School of Dentistry (UUSoD). The data collected were compiled in REDCap and analyzed with STATA version 14.2 (Stata Corporation, College Station, Texas)

Results: A total of 284 persons age 1 to 96 years old participated in this study. Of these, 55.1% were women. A majority of the participants were between the ages of 18 and 96 (84.2%), with a mean age (SD) of 38 (22) years. Participants were ethnically diverse with 27.8% White, 6.0% Black, 59.5% Hispanic, 1.1 % Native American, 3.9% Asian, and 0.7% Pacific Islander. 28.5% of the participants had less than a high school-level education. Approximately 52.5% were employed full-time. Out of 65.1% participants who reported their annual income, about 50.2% of them reported an annual household income of less than $15,000. 66.5% of the participants did not have health insurance. Approximately 38.7% of the participants required prompt treatment, while 10.6% were evaluated to require urgent treatment due to pain or infection.
Conclusions: This study suggested that Utah population would benefit from education on the early signs and symptoms of oral health disease. The Utah population treated during the outreach activities of UUSoD required dental treatment but was lacking access to dental services.