Analysis of the Impact of Oral Health on Adolescent Quality of Life Using Standard Statistical Methods and Artificial Intelligence Algorithms.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of oral health on adolescent quality of life and to compare the results obtained using standard statistical methods and artificial intelligence algorithms. In order to measure the impact of oral health on adolescent quality of life, a validated Serbian version of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) scale was used. The total sample comprised 374 respondents. The obtained results were processed using standard statistical methods and machine learning, i.e., artificial intelligence algorithms-singular value decomposition. OIDP score was dichotomized into two categories depending on whether the respondents had or did not have oral or teeth problems affecting their life quality. Human intuition and machine algorithms came to the same conclusion on how the respondents should be divided. As such, method quality and the need to perform analyses of this type in dentistry studies were demonstrated. Using artificial intelligence algorithms, the respondents can be clustered into characteristic groups that allow the discovery of details not possible with the intuitive division of respondents by gender.

The Outcomes of an Interventional Oral Health Program on Dental Students' Oral Hygiene.

Dental students are an interesting population because they are expected to have a higher level of knowledge of and to exhibit better oral hygiene habits, and thus have a greater impact on the environment, families, and society as a whole. The aim of this research was to determine the state of oral hygiene in dental students before and after the interventional health education program. The research sample consisted of 119 students of dentistry in their first and fourth years of study. The first research stage was conducted before health education intervention (for the evaluation of selected oral health parameters, the Decayed, Missing and Filled index, Greene-Vermillion index, Silness-Löe plaque index, Silness-Löe gingival index, and the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs index were used). The second stage was conducted as a clinical measurement of oral health changes. The conducted health education intervention, to an extent, led to changes in the state of oral hygiene among the students, and thus healthier habits. There was a statistically significant difference in the examined population between the beginning of the study and after the health education intervention program. Although a significant improvement in oral hygiene and oral health was noticed after the health education intervention program, the state of oral hygiene was still not at a satisfactory level among the dental students, contrary to our expectations.