Risk Indicators Associated with Root Caries and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Older Adults: The Tromsø7 Study.

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate risk indicators associated with root caries in older adults aged 65 years and above in Norway. A secondary aim was to explore whether root caries was associated with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1,075 participants aged ≥65 from the population-based Tromsø Study (Tromsø7) conducted in Northern Norway in 2015-2016. All inhabitants aged 40 years and older in Tromsø municipality (32,591) were invited, of whom 21,083 participated. The participants underwent clinical and radiographic examinations and answered extensive questionnaires. Root caries was registered on four surfaces per tooth and graded D_3-5. For analysis, prevalence of root caries was dichotomised into (1) no (if the participants had no root caries) and (2) yes (if root caries was registered on at least one surface). Characteristics of the study population were described with percentages and frequencies for the categorical variables and mean and standard deviation (SD) for continuous variables for the whole cohort and stratified on presence of root caries and OHRQoL impact. The statistical significance of differences was assessed with the Pearson χ2 test and independent sample T test. Factors associated with root caries and OHRQoL were explored using logistic regression. The significance level was set to p < 0.05 for all analysis.

Results: Men had higher odds of root caries than women (OR: 1.70, 95% CI [1.08, 2.70]) and those who were smokers had a higher odds of root caries than those who had never smoked (OR: 1.83, 95% CI [1.13, 2.94]). Participants with root caries had 1.67 times higher odds of having reduced OHRQoL than those without root caries (95% CI: 1.02, 2.72).

Conclusion: This study found that being male and smoking were risk indicators of root caries. Additionally, root caries had a negative impact on OHRQoL. The results could be useful for oral health professionals to guide individual and targeted root caries preventive measures in older adults.