Oral Health Status in the Pars Cohort Study

Poor oral health is common in the world, especially in low-income and developing countries. We evaluated oral health status and its association with sociodemographic and economic variables in one of the largest cohort studies in Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Pars Cohort Study which is conducted in a rural area in southern Iran. A total of 9264 individuals were enrolled in the initial registry. Data on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were collected. Oral assessment was completed by trained physicians. Generalized negative binomial regression modeling was applied.

Overall, data from 9264 participants entered the final analysis. The participants’ mean age was 52.6 ± 9.7 years. In total, 8975 participants (96.8%) had at least one tooth loss and 1790 participants (19.3%) were edentulous. Female gender (incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.08) (IRR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.16), opium consumption (IRR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.22) (IRR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.16 1.30), lower socioeconomic status (SES) (IRR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.10) (IRR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.15) and being illiterate (IRR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.20, 1.26) (IRR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.32, 1.41) were associated with higher decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and more tooth loss.

Oral health was poor in our study sample, especially among older individuals, people with lower SES, illiterate participants, smokers and opiate consumers, which shows the need for improvement in oral health care.