March 2013

Volume 30, Issue 1

Associations between oral health and height in an Indigenous Australian birth cohort

Authors: L.M. Jamieson S.M. Sayers K.F. Roberts-Thomson
doi: 10.1922/CDH_3038Jamieson07

Abstract

Objective: Evidence suggests that taller individuals have better health than their shorter counterparts. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that shorter participants in Wave-3 of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort (ABC) study, a prospective longitudinal investigation of Indigenous Australian individuals born 1987–1990 at an Australian regional hospital, would have more caries and periodontal disease experience than their taller counterparts. Methods: Data were collected through oral clinical examinations, anthropometric measures and self-report questionnaires. The outcome variables were participants’ caries (mean DMFT) and periodontal disease experience (moderate or severe periodontal disease as defined by the Centre for Disease Control), with height as an explanatory variable. Antecedent anthropometric, socio-demographic, sugar consumption frequency, dental behaviour and substance use variables were used as possible confounders. Linear regression was used in the analysis of caries experience, while adjusted prevalence ratios were used for prevalence of moderate or severe periodontal disease. Results: Higher DMFT was found among participants in the shortest tertile (B=1.02, 95% CI=0.02–2.02) and those who consumed sweets every day or a few days a week (B=1.08, 95% CI=0.11–2.05), while lower DMFT was found among those owning a toothbrush (B=0.80, 95% CI=-0.22–1.82). Periodontal disease was positively associated with the shortest tertile (adjusted PR=1.39, 95% CI=0.96–1.82) and negatively associated with toothbrush ownership (adjusted PR=0.50, 95% CI=0.34–0.66). Conclusion: The hypothesis that shorter participants in Wave-3 of the ABC study would have higher levels of caries and periodontal disease was confirmed. Keywords: dental caries, periodontal disease, Indigenous populations, body height

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Other articles in this issue

Article Pages Access
Editorial - The British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry at forty: our professional project 2-4 Download
Acknowledgement of Referees 5-5 Download
Dental Public Health in Action - Challenges encountered when conducting a dental health needs assessment of older people resident in care homes: experience from England 6-9 Download
Rare diseases with oral components: care course and quality of life 10-14 Download
Fluoridation and dental caries severity in young children treated under general anaesthesia: an analysis of treatment records in a 10-year case series 15-18 Download
Measuring determinants of oral health behaviour in parents of preschool children 19-25 Download
The self-reported oral health status and dental attendance of smokers and non-smokers 26-29 Download
Attitudes towards the use of fluorides for oral health among Islamic clerics in Kelantan Province, Malaysia 30-33 Download
The views of examiners on the use of intra-oral photographs to detect dental caries in epidemiological studies 34-38 Download
Caries experience and treatment need in adults with intellectual disabilities in two German regions 39-44 Download
Attitudes towards establishing a daily supervised school-based toothbrushing programme - determined by Q-sort methodology 45-51 Download
Oral health literacy comparisons between Indigenous Australians and American Indians 52-57 Download
Associations between oral health and height in an Indigenous Australian birth cohort 58-64 Download

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