Self-reported Oral Health Status Among Intravenous Drug Users

Objective: To describe self-reported oral health status, oral pain experience, dental utilization pattern, and factors associated with them among Intravenous Drug Users (IDUs) in London, Ontario, Canada. Methods: In total, 145 IDUs (72.4% male and 27.6% female), participated in this cross-sectional survey regarding their drug use. The inclusion criteria were IDUs 16 years of age or older, who spoke English and had injected in the past 30 days. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire with items covering the following topics: socio-demographic characteristics, social support, housing status, income and employment status, the self-report version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), and self-reported oral health status. A stratified, quota sampling technique was used to maximize the representativeness of the sample in terms of gender and in relation to the IDU population in the community. Results: More than half of the participants reported their oral health status as fair or poor (62.8%). While 24.1% and 22.8% reported difficulties chewing a fresh carrot or an apple, respectively. Of the 64.2% who reported having oral pain some or all of the time, 53.7% reported the intensity of their pain as moderate to severe. More than half of the participants also, (64.8%) reported seeing a dentist more than a year ago. Preliminary analysis indicates that participants who reported poor general health (ASI medical composite score), also reported poor oral health, experienced pain some or all of the time with moderate to severe intensity. Participants, who reported being unemployed or a relative lower income, also reported seeing a dentist more than a year ago. Conclusion: Majority of IDUs frequently experience moderate to severe oral pain and utilize dental services less frequently. Poor general health and low income may contribute to poor oral health and decreased utilization of dental care services, respectively.