Attitudes toward dental appearance in 50- and 60-year-old subjects living in Sweden

• Background: Attitudes towards the importance of general appearance has varied much not only over time but also among groups of individuals of different age and other characteristics. Whether the situation is similar regarding dental appearance does not seem to have been studied. Purpose: The aim was to study differences in attitudes towards dental appearance between two large samples of 50- and 60-year-old subjects. Materials and Methods: Identical questionnaires were sent to all subjects born in 1942 and 1952 living in two Swedish counties in 2002 (n=17444; n50=8881; n60=8563). The final response rate was 72.2% (n=12599). In this study, responses to four statements on the importance of dental appearance have been analyzed with respect to gender and age. Results: Many of the responses to the four statements differed with gender and age. To the first statement (“To have beautiful and perfect teeth is very important for how you are treated by other people”), 73 % agreed at age 60 compared to 64 % at age 50 (P < 0.001). Approximately 90 % of the subjects agreed to the second statement (“Minor aesthetic imperfections of the teeth have no importance, only they function well”). Logistic regression indicated that several variables were significantly associated with the statements. Besides age and gender, education and self-assessed dental problems were most important. Conclusion: Attitudes towards the importance of dental appearance differed both between genders and age groups. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE The varying attitudes towards dental appearance in the population must be acknowledged in treatment decisions.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Odontologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Dentistry (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

esthetics

function

gender differences

population samples

questionnaire

NATURAL SCIENCES

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)