Negative impacts of self-reported five-year incident tooth loss and number of teeth on oral health-related quality of life

Aims and Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the impacts of five-year incident tooth loss on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in Southern Thai adults and the differences in OHRQoL regarding the number of teeth. Materials and Methods: The study samples included 657 dentate men and women, aged 35-65 years. The Thai version of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) index was used to assess oral impacts. The number of teeth was grouped as 1-19 versus >= 20 teeth. Self-reported five-year incident tooth loss was classified as none, 1-2 teeth, or >= 3 teeth. Odd ratio (OR) and 95% confident interval (CI) were presented. All analyses were carried out using STATA software, version 13.1. Results: Approximately 22% of participants had fewer than 20 teeth. More than half (54%) of the participants had lost >= 1 tooth. OIDP were experienced by approximately 54% of participants, where impacts on eating were frequently reported. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that >= 3 lost teeth and having 1-19 retained teeth was significantly associated with the greater prevalence of oral impacts (OR = 9.80; 95% CI = 2.96-32.51). Conclusion: Tooth loss and its impacts affecting daily life were common among these study samples. The largest effect on impaired OHRQoL was presented by those with fewer teeth and a greater number of incident tooth loss during the past five years.