Validity of a questionnaire in estimating restorative treatment need among young adults.

OBJECTIVE: There are no verified anamnestic sets of questions for assessing restorative treatment need. Finnish conscripts responded to a computer-based questionnaire on oral health during their oral health screening in 2011. This study compared the outcomes of the screening and the questionnaire concerning restorative treatment need with the aim of finding and validating a set of questions with the best association between the two methods. CLINICAL SETTING: The study group comprised 8,566 conscripts. Of 50 original questions, 22 questions were chosen for closer analysis. The generalised linear mixed model was used to calculate the OR values (95% CI) for each of these questions, using restorative treatment need at individual level as the response variable. Questions with the best association (Q1-Q10) were selected for the final set; the inclusion criterion was p < 0.05. The area under curve (AUC) value was calculated for the sum function of these 10 questions. RESULTS: Among the final set of 10 questions, the OR values varied between 1.12 and 4.61. The AUC value was 0.75. By increasing the number of positive responses to 8 questions, the odds for restorative treatment need were OR 69.27 and increased to infinity with 10 questions. CONCLUSIONS: A selected set of questions together with clinical screening, or even alone, can be a valid instrument for screening people for restorative treatment need. The method is particularly useful in large populations. This statistical method might identify appropriate sets of questions for different contexts.

Geographical distribution of dental caries prevalence and associated factors in young adults in Finland.

Oral health of the young has been reported to be associated with the place of residence, due to differences in socio-economic status. The results of studies on the effect of fluoride in drinking water on caries prevalence have been contradictory. The main aim of our study was to investigate the geographical distribution of dental caries prevalence in Finland and analyse possible regional, associated factors. Oral health of 13,564 men born between 1990 and 1992 was screened using a method based on criteria of the World Health Organization for epidemiological studies by 15 calibrated dentists in 20/24 garrisons of the Finnish Defence Forces in 2011. Mean DMFT and DT values in provinces were calculated. Multilevel analysis was applied to the data using generalized linear mixed models and a logit link function. The binary outcome variable was the cariological treatment need (yes/no) and the garrison was treated as random effect. Mean DMFT and DT values varied significantly between provinces in Finland. Increased levels of fluoride in drinking water, Swedish as the main language in the municipality, and living in urban areas were protective factors against cariological treatment need. Dentist density did not affect caries prevalence. The geographical distribution of dental caries further supported estimates of the protective effects of high fluoride levels in drinking water, Swedish as the main language in the municipality, as well as living in urban areas. Effect of fluoride on caries prevalence still exists, and association with the socio-economic status was confirmed.