Contextual and individual determinants of tooth loss in the Afro-descendant older adult populations of different countries: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: The Black population has poorer oral health than other racial groups; however, little is known about the mechanisms that explain this difference. OBJECTIVE: To study the association between race and tooth loss and map the evidence on factors associated with tooth loss in Black older populations. METHODS: Scoping review following the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews conducted according to the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute. A three-step search strategy was applied, and data were collected between April and July 2021. Searches were performed in the PubMed, Lilacs, and SciELO databases. The grey literature was searched using Google Scholar (https://www.scholar.google.com/). The reference lists of included studies were used as additional sources. Studies published in English and Portuguese of the association between tooth loss and different racial groups and the factors associated with tooth loss and tooth retention in Black older adult populations were included. RESULTS: Twenty-one of 913 original articles published between 1995 and 2020 were included. Of these, 75% were research articles, 15% were reports, and 10% dissertations. Eighty per cent reported cross-sectional and 20% longitudinal data. African ancestry was associated with increased odds of tooth loss in older adult populations. Periodontal disease, female sex, and advanced age were the exposures most frequently associated with tooth loss. CONCLUSION: Race, educational level, advanced age, and oral diseases such as periodontitis are associated with increased tooth loss in Afro-descendant older populations.

A feasibility study to explore the governance processes required for linkage between dental epidemiological, and birth cohort, data in the U.K.

Birth cohort initiatives, such as 'Born in Bradford', provide a unique opportunity to study the influence of socio-economic and environmental factors acting in pregnancy, birth and infancy on the development of dental caries in later life. This paper describes a feasibility study which established the processes required, and outcomes of, successful linkage of oral health data collected by the 2013 three-year-old national dental epidemiology survey with the Born in Bradford birth cohort database. The necessary processes included achieving research permissions and ethical approval; creation of a data sharing agreement; ensuring data security and encrypted data transfer. With regard to the outcomes, a robust a priori statistical plan was developed. 152 three-year-old children were examined for the 2013 dental epidemiology survey in Bradford, and of those, 69 parents consented to data linkage believing that their child was part of the Born in Bradford cohort. However, only 36 of these 69 children were participating in the cohort. Of these, six children had obvious dentinal caries experience (dmft ⟩0). There was insufficient power with such small numbers, to examine the association between birthweight and dental caries at the age of three-years-old. Key learning points from this feasibility study have informed the design of a larger study to link the 2014/5 five-year-old dental epidemiology surveys with the Born in Bradford cohort. This paper reveals the important methodological considerations for future data linkages between routine health data and research data.

A critical review of protocols for conventional microwave oven use for denture disinfection.

INTRODUCTION: The lack of proper denture hygiene may cause denture stomatitis and be detrimental to older adults' health. The cleaning of complete dentures should be quick, efficient, and easy to perform, although it might not guarantee disinfection. The use of a microwave oven has been suggested for aiding in the disinfection of complete dentures, but lacks a gold standard protocol. OBJECTIVES: To critically review the literature on protocols for complete denture disinfection using conventional microwave ovens. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search through PubMed Central, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Ovid MEDLINE (R) In-Process focused on publications in English dealing with microwave therapy for denture disinfection, and on the protocols used. RESULTS: A total of 266 articles with the full-text available were found; 31 were included in this manuscript after 236 were excluded. The protocols for microwave oven use for disinfection of complete dentures varied in terms of oven potency, time used for microwaving, and solution in which the complete dentures were immersed. CONCLUSIONS: There is still no standardized protocol for microwave oven use for denture disinfection. Although underutilized in residential care, daily denture hygiene seems to still be the optimal method for controlling fungal infections and denture stomatitis.

The concept of validity in sociodental indicators and oral health-related quality-of-life measures.

BACKGROUND: Most of the psychometric instruments used to measure quality of life associated with oral impairment and disability from the perspectives of older adults focus on negative experiences, and pay little attention to the possibility of positive reactions to disablement. This oversight challenges the validity of the instruments in current use, and raises questions about the process used to validate them. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we consider the general attributes of psychometric validity, and how they have been applied to oral health-related instruments. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The psychometric characteristics and predictive validity of existing dental instruments are still weak, probably because the instruments fail to address the broad range of personal variables that influence oral health, disability and quality of life. We recommend, therefore, that a continuous process of validation be adopted to include: (1) assessments of the theoretical framework supporting the instruments; (2) evaluations of the focus and structure of the questions used; and (3) enhancements of the prediction value of instruments applicable to oral health-related beliefs and behaviours.