Page 203 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2024. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih / Health of Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press

Self-assessment of the oral health of adults in Slovenia in 2019

1
2
Martin Ranfl , Anja Durjava , Barbara Artnik 3
1 National Institute of Public Health, Regional Unit Murska Sobota, Murska Sobota,
Slovenia
2 National Institute of Public Health, Regional Unit Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
3 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Chair of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction: Self-assessment of oral health is a subjective but important indicator of
an individual’s oral health. The aim of the study was to determine the level of self-as-
sessed oral health in Slovenia.
Methods: The »National Oral Health Survey of Adults in Slovenia in 2019« was con-
ducted on a sample of 3,200 adult residents of Slovenia aged between 18 and 74 years.
Participants received an invitation to participate in the online survey by post, and a
written questionnaire was enclosed with the notification letter for people over 44
years of age. The self-assessment of oral health was evaluated using the question:
»How do you rate your oral health?«, possible answers were: »Very good«, »Good«,
»Fair«, »Poor«, »Very poor«. The extreme categories were combined for the statis-
tical analysis. The data were analysed according to demographic data. We tested the
distributions of proportions between different groups (by gender, age, education and
living environment) using the chi-square test and the Column Comparison Proportion
(CCP) test to compare proportions between different groups.
Results: 60% of respondents rated their oral health positively, 12% of whom rated it posterji | poster presentations
as »very good«. 8% of respondents rated their oral health as »poor« or »very poor«.
62% of women rated their oral health positively, compared to 57% of men. Converse-
ly, the proportion of those who rated their oral health negatively was higher among
men than women (10% compared to 6%); the difference is statistically significant (CCP
test, p=0.021). The proportion of people who rated their oral health negatively was
lowest among adults with the highest level of education (8% of adults with at least pri-
mary education, 10% of adults with secondary education and 4% of adults with at least
tertiary education).
Discussion and conclusions: Self-assessed oral health is related to socioeconomic factors
such as gender, education and living environment. The level of oral health of Slovenian
adults, based on self-assessment, is not high. A significant proportion of adults in Slo-
venia rate their oral health negatively, which is a major problem. Given the observed
prevalence of negative self-assessment of oral health, it can be estimated that in addi-
tion to the more than 117,000 people who rate their oral health negatively, there are
also more than 480,000 who rate their oral health as »fair«. It can be assumed that
they occasionally have problems with their oral health. The proportion of people who
rate their oral health negatively is higher among men, people over the age of 44, peo-
ple with a lower level of education (mainly primary education) and people living in rural
areas. These groups can be considered particularly vulnerable in terms of oral health.
Adequate oral health care plays a key role in maintaining and strengthening oral health.
Inadequate frequency of tooth brushing and irregular visits to the dentist lead to the
development of oral diseases, pain, discomfort and ultimately tooth loss with all its
consequences. These are also the groups on which preventive measures should be fo-
cused in the future.
Keywords: oral health, oral health self-assessment, dental health surveys, oral hygiene,
oral health care

203