Effects of area-based deprivation on dental caries, perceived dental treatment need and oral health related quality of life of UK adults

Aims and Objectives: To measure the influence of Index of Multiple Deprivation England (IMDE) on dental caries prevalence, perceived dental need, and oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL). Materials and Methods: Secondary analysis of the 2009 Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) was carried out to report the influence of IMDE on the number of carious teeth, perceived need toward dental treatment OHRQoL of UK adults using Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Results: As the range of IMDE from the least to the most deprived area is 10 to 1, IMDE score was negatively correlated with the number of carious teeth (r = −0.147, P = 0.01). Similarly, IMDE score was negatively correlated with total OHIP-14 score (higher score indicating higher impact on OHRQoL) with r = −0.135 (P = 0.01). Logistic regression showed statistically significant results of IMDE score in increasing the likelihood of respondent in having higher number of caries (odds ratio [OR] = 0.93, P = 0.000), perception of needing dental treatment (OR = 1.111, P = 0.000), and higher OHIP-14 score (OR = 0.94, P = 0.000). Conclusion: Measures of relative deprivation are important in research related to oral health inequality. Area-based deprivation index proved to be one of the tools that can visibly disclose the inequalities of burden of disease in oral health. Policymakers should consider concentrating resources toward those with low household income in highly deprived areas rather than those with similar income but in less-deprived area.