Abstract
BackgroundA life course perspective recognizes influences of socially patterned exposures on oral health across the life span. This study assessed the influence of early and later life social conditions on tooth loss and oral impacts on daily performances (OIDP) of people aged 65 and 70 years. Whether social inequalities in oral health changed after the usual age of retirement was also examined. In accordance with “the latent effect life course model”, it was hypothesized that adverse early-life social conditions increase the risk of subsequent tooth loss and impaired OIDP, independent of later-life social conditions.MethodsData were obtained from two cohorts studies conducted in Sweden and Norway. The 2007 and 2012 waves of the surveys were used for the present study. Early-life social conditions were measured in terms of gender, education and country of birth, and later-life social conditions were assessed by working status, marital status and size of social network. Logistic regression and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to analyse the data. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was used to adjust estimates for missing responses and loss to follow-up.ResultsEarly-life social conditions contributed to tooth loss and OIDP in each survey year and both countries independent of later-life social conditions. Lower education correlated positively with tooth loss, but did not influence OIDP. Foreign country of birth correlated positively with oral impacts in Sweden only. Later-life social conditions were the strongest predictors of tooth loss and OIDP across survey years and countries. GEE revealed significant interactions between social network and survey year, and between marital status and survey year on tooth loss.ConclusionThe results confirmed the latent effect life course model in that early and later life social conditions had independent effects on tooth loss and OIDP among the elderly in Norway and Sweden. Between age 65 and 70, inequalities in tooth loss related to marital status declined, and inequalities related to social network increased.
Highlights
A life course perspective recognizes influences of socially patterned exposures on oral health across the life span
This study examined inequalities in tooth loss and oral impacts on daily performances (OIDP) related to early and later life social conditions focusing on non- institutionalized Norwegian and Swedish elderly
In spite of between country difference when it comes to inclusiveness of social assistance, the country specific analyses of this study suggest that social inequalities in oral health of the elderly were as profound in Sweden as in Norway [43]
Summary
A life course perspective recognizes influences of socially patterned exposures on oral health across the life span. In accordance with “the latent effect life course model”, it was hypothesized that adverse early-life social conditions increase the risk of subsequent tooth loss and impaired OIDP, independent of later-life social conditions. Life course epidemiology has been defined as the study of long-term effects on subsequent health of physical or social exposure during gestation, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and later adult life [13,14]. According to this perspective, combinations, accumulations and/or interactions of social environments and biological insults experienced throughout the life course impact on current and future health and oral health conditions [13]. The cumulative life course model considers that risk to health accumulates gradually across the lifespan and focuses on the total amount of exposure, whereas the social mobility model refers to social mobility across the life-course, and to how mobility impacts adult oral health
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
