Oral health and quality of life perception by adults with and without oral health assistance

Oral health problems are recognized as important factors causing negative impact on daily activities and individuals quality of life. Several work places offer oral health assistance to their employers, however, not much is known about the impact of oral health assistance on individuals’ perception of their oral health and quality of life. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of dental assistance on individuals’ perceptions of oral health and quality of life. Individuals working on industries with dental assistance, no dental assistance and in an industry that used to provide dental assistance to their workers were interviewed regarding their perception of quality of life and oral health, as well as socio-economic status. A total of 267 individuals were interviewed, the majority of them went to the dentist during the pass year, especially those with oral health assistance. The number of missing teeth was higher in individuals working in a company without dental assistance. 62% gave grades between 8 and 9 for their oral health and 74% gave the same grades for their quality of life. There was no difference between the grades given by individuals in each industry. However, 10% of workers with dental assistance felt that their oral health had became worse during the last 2 years against 21% of those without dental assistance. It can be concluded that there was no difference in the grade given by individuals with and without dental assistance regarding their oral health and quality of life, however, the number of missing teeth as well as the percentage of individuals felling that their oral health got worse in the last two years was higher in the industries without dental assistance. It can be seen that dental/oral health assistance has positive impact on individuals’ oral health, but not on its perception.