Having detailed and up-to-date data about the oral health (OH) of Canada’s population is essential for improving care, reducing inequities and guiding recent policy initiatives, including the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) say researchers in a new Statistics Canada report, entitled Prevalence and correlates of self-reported fair or poor oral health in Canada.
The research found 17.1 per cent of adults in Canada report having poor or fair OH. The number is positively associated with having other OH and general health conditions – the odds of reporting fair or poor OH remained higher for people who had other OH related conditions including dentures, mouth pain, untreated mouth problems and avoiding certain foods. “Not having had an annual dental visit or failing to brush twice daily also increased the risk, as did being a man, a racialized person or from a lower-income household, as well as having a lower general health status,” the report states.
“Financial barriers that prevent many people from accessing OH care in Canada are expected to decrease with eligibility to the CDCP. Monitoring of OH-related changes after the CDCP’s introduction is required to capture progress.” The report also notes that good OH is associated with longevity and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
Self-reported fair and poor OH was more common among men (18.5 per cent of whom said this was the case) than women (15.6 per cent reported fair and poor OH). “Nearly one quarter (24.3 per cent) of the racialized population described their OH as fair or poor.” This is higher than 14.3 per cent of non-racialized survey respondents who said the same. “Fair or poor OH estimates followed the same pattern for immigrants (24.4 per cent) versus non-immigrants (14.2 per cent),” they add.
“Fair or poor OH was three times less common among people in the highest income quintile (7.6 per cent) compared with those in the lowest (23.5 per cent).” Not surprisingly, fair or poor OH was also prevalent among those without dental insurance – 25.3 per cent of those in this category reported having fair or poor OH.
