Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of erosive tooth wear (ETW) and its association with dental caries and the use of psychoactive substances among Finnish prisoners.MethodsOne hundred voluntary prisoners (90.9%) from the Pelso Prison participated in this cross-sectional clinical study between September 2014 and February 2015. Fifty prisoners were also interviewed using the one-on-one interviewing technique for their background factors and use of psychoactive substances. Basic Erosive Index (BEWE) (0–18) was used to measure erosive tooth wear. Decayed (D), missing (M), filled (F) and the number of remaining teeth (T) and DMFT were reported. The association between the different variables was tested and analysed by using cross tabulation. To test the association between the variables a logistic regression analysis was conducted.ResultsAlmost all (90%) of the subjects had need for preventive and operative treatment for ETW. In addition, one in five (19%) suffered from severe erosive tooth wear. The use of psychoactive substances and pharmaceuticals is common, yet no association with ETW was found. Smoking and alcohol consumption were more common among younger prisoners than the older ones. There is an increased risk for ETW among older prisoners and major alcohol consumers. Past caries experience was associated with dental erosion.ConclusionsErosive tooth wear is common among Finnish prisoners in their thirties. ETW is associated with dental caries and daily alcohol consumption.
Highlights
The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of erosive tooth wear (ETW) and its association with dental caries and the use of psychoactive substances among Finnish prisoners
Literature review Literature on the topic was searched systematically using MeSH keywords in PubMed, MEDLINE and Scopus databases with prison, prisoner, erosive tooth wear, BEWE (Basic Erosive Wear Examination), dental caries, ICDAS (International Caries Detection and Assessment System), D, M, F, DMFT and psychoactive substance, oral health, illicit drug, dental erosion, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, crack as key words
The use of psychoactive substances was common, and the oral health of prisoners was poor in terms of D and DMFT [18–25] (Table 1)
Summary
The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of erosive tooth wear (ETW) and its association with dental caries and the use of psychoactive substances among Finnish prisoners. Psychoactive substances include products such as tobacco products, alcohol, illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals, all of which are known to impair oral health [7–9]. Substance abuse, i.e. alcohol consumption and illicit drug use as well as misuse of pharmaceuticals, has increased dramatically among prisoners and is many times higher in comparison with the general population [11]. Their oral health-related behaviours are poor per se [12] They have many other health problems as well, in addition to which alcohol and drug abuse and the use of tobacco products are common [11]. Vainionpää et al BMC Oral Health (2019) 19:97 little is known about ETW as well as the association of ETW and dental caries with psychoactive substance use among Finnish prisoners
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