Objective: To determine the association between dental care and oral health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the Australian population.
Methods: Data were obtained from the National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004/06, a national cross-sectional survey of a clustered stratified random sample of 14,123 Australians. This study was limited to the 4,176 dentate adults who answered questions on oral HRQoL measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14: Slade GD, CDOE 1997; 25: 284¨C90). Prevalence was defined as the percentage of people reporting 'fairly often' or 'very often' to one or more of the 14 OHIP questions.
Results: 63.0% of the subjects had visited a dentist in the last year, among whom 13.5% had an extraction and 67.7% a scale/clean. 38.6% usually obtained dental care for treatment of a problem. OHIP-14 prevalence was 18.5%. Unadjusted analysis showed a statistical association between OHIP-14 prevalence and receipt of extractions (0.54, 0.37-0.78), receipt of a scale/clean (0.62, 0.48-0.81), and the usual reason for dental attendance (check-up/problem: 3.00, 2.30-3.93). However, there was no association for the time since the subject last visited a dentist (<12 months/°Ý 12 months: Prevalence ratio=1.14, 95%CI=0.91-1.43). After adjustment for the usual reason for dental attendance there was no effect of extractions or scale/cleans on OHIP-14 prevalence.
Conclusion: The usual reason for the dental visit, and not the time since last visit or type of dental care supplied, accounted for differences in oral HRQoL suggesting that some resources should be allocated to influencing the usual reason for the dental attendance.
Supported by NHMRC, DoHA, AIHW, Colgate Oral Care, ADA, US CDC and ADRF.