Interactions among Prosthetic Status, Socio-demographic, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Variables -- Results of the Study of Health in Pomerania

Objectives: The number and position of missing teeth determines the type and extent of the dentures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of prosthodontic restorations and their associations to socio-economic, behavioural and psychosocial characteristics. The data were taken from the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Methods: 4310 subjects aged from 20 to 79 were examined from 1997-2001. Partially edentulous dental arches were classified in a new way for calculating the need of prosthodontic treatment. Using multiple stepwise logistic regression an epidemiological model was designed specifically to select out which socio-demographic or behavioural characteristics were associated with inadaequate prosthodontic restorations. Results: First the level of prosthetic reconstruction depends from the topography of the existing teeth in each jaw redefined with the new classification (OR=0.05-3.26). Other significant markers for inadequate dentures are gender (OR=0.59 for females), age (OR=1.28), income (OR=0.79), education (OR=1.25) and beer consumption (OR=1.58). Significant interactions could be shown not only between the topography and age but also between oral health behaviour, alcohol consumption and social net. Conclusion: Until now, there are no clear guidelines to assess the quality and the need of prosthetic restorations for epidemiological studies. Using our model it can be shown that not only clinical dental conditions but also socio-economic, psychosocial and behavioural characteristics are predictors of prosthodontic restorations. This study is granted by Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF-ZZ9603), Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Social Ministry of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and German Research Association (DFG-Ko799/5-1).