Description
The purpose of this study is to examine if there is an association between depressive and anxiety symptoms and tooth loss. Tooth loss has potential implications on functional, psychological, and social dimensions in a person’s life. The strength of the association between psychological factors and tooth loss has not been as thoroughly evaluated. A total of 99 dental patients were screened during a quality improvement project between the dental department and the behavioral health department collected during from 2016 to 2017, obtained from a Community Health Center in San Diego. De-identified patient data included age, sex, ethnicity, income, language, marital status, tooth loss, tobacco use, plaque, and calculus. Dental patients were screened using two brief validated scales, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Questionnaire 7 (GAD-7), to identify depressive and anxiety symptoms. The outcome of interest for this study was a count of the total number of missing teeth out of 28. Bivariate and multivariable regression models were performed. The average tooth loss was 3 teeth. For mental health symptomology, 33% of patients exhibited depressive symptoms whilst 32% exhibited anxiety symptoms. Results from the negative binomial models showed that dental adult patients with greater odds of experiencing tooth loss were older adults between the ages of 41 and over, females, marital status, tobacco users, and heavy calculus. Anxiety symptoms did not yield significant differences in terms of tooth loss (Odds Ratio=0.59; 95% Confidence Interval=0.32-1.10). Patients exhibiting depressive symptoms showed no differences in terms of tooth loss (OR=0.61; 95% CI=0.35- 1.06). About 42% of dental patients screened positive for mental health symptomology needing a referral to behavioral health services. There were no positive associations between depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms and tooth loss for the sample, which could be due to limitations of sample size and variability for sample characteristics. However, results support the need for further screening due to the identification of individuals in need of services. This study’s findings have important clinical and public health implications and support the incorporation of psychosocial screening for mental health among dental patients in community health clinic settings.
