Abstract
Aim: To quantify the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) of origin for predicting dental health from childhood through to adulthood, and to estimate how SES in adulthood may modify this.
Methods: This was a longstanding prospective cohort study of all individuals born in 1972/73 in Dunedin (NZ). Dental examinations were conducted at intervals from age 5 through to age 32 years, and social class was also assessed repeatedly up to age 32. SES was determined on the basis of parental occupation during the Study members' childhood, and upon the Study members' own occupations in adulthood, and was categorised as low, medium, or high.
Results: Dental data at 3 or more ages were available for 914 study members. Cumulative DMFS scores increased in a linear pattern up to age 32, overall and within each childhood SES group. For the entire cohort, mean cumulative DMFS (permanent teeth only) was 0.6 surfaces at age 9 years, and had grown to 16.8 by age 32 years. A simple linear regression formula, based on mean DMFS data from all the time points available from age 9 to 32 years, was DMFS = 0.72 * year 0.0701. When stratified by childhood SES, the rate of divergence of mean DMFS scores for between the high, medium, and low social class showed no sign of slowing from age 9 to age 32; rather, the divergence of cumulative DMFS scores by childhood SES category appeared constant over time.
Conclusion: The effect of childhood SES upon the worsening of dental health is continuous through childhood and into adulthood.