Reseach SummaryPerceived oral health in the UK and Australia

doi:doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4812261

British Dental Journal 198, 483 (2005)
Published online: 23 April 2005 | doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4812261

Reseach Summary:
Perceived oral health in the UK and Australia

Peter G Robinson¹

In a random population sample of adults, one in six people reported impacts 'fairly often' or 'very often' during the preceding year.
There was striking similarity in the prevalence of problems in everyday life attributed to oral disorders in the UK and Australia.
Differences were observed in individual impacts, with Australians more likely to report four items categorised as pain and physical disability.
Dentate Australians tended to report a larger number of impacts occurring at low frequency than dentate people in the UK.
Population differences in the impact of oral disorders may be an artifact of different collection methods or may reflect subtle sociocultural differences in subjective oral health.

Background Surveys of oral health have not previously compared national adult populations using measures of subjective oral health.

Aims To compare subjective oral health of adults in the UK and Australian populations.

Methods Cross sectional studies were conducted of people aged 18+ years in the 1998 UK Adult Dental Health Survey and the 1999 Australian National Dental Telephone Interview Survey. Subjective oral health was measured using the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14).

Results Among dentate people, the percentage reporting impacts 'fairly often' or 'very often' was marginally greater in Australia (18.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 16.2–20.2) than the UK (15.9%, 95%CI = 14.4–17.4). There were larger regional variations in prevalence within populations, ranging from 14.8% to 22.3% among Australian states/ territories, and from 13.6% to 19.8% among countries within the UK. However, the mean number of impacts and rated severity of impacts was significantly greater in Australia than the UK

Conclusions While the percentage of adults reporting adverse impacts of oral health was similar, Australians reported a larger number of impacts and more severe impacts than dentate people in the UK. Differences in the number and severity of impacts between the two populations may be an artifact of different data collection methods or may reflect relatively subtle socio-cultural differences in subjective oral health between these populations.

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