SOS Teeth: Age and Sex Differences in the Prevalence of First Priority Teeth among a National Representative Sample of Young and Middle-Aged Adults

Galit Almoznino, Itzhak Abramovitz, Ortal Kessler Baruch, Ron Kedem, Noam E. Protter, Jonathan Levine, Tarif Bader, Nirit Yavnai, Dorit Zur, Eitan Mijiritsky and Boaz Shay
Additional contact information
Galit Almoznino: Head, Big Biomedical Data Research Laboratory, Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
Itzhak Abramovitz: Department of Endodontics, Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
Ortal Kessler Baruch: Department of Endodontics, Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
Ron Kedem: Medical Information Department, General Surgeon Headquarter, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel–Hashomer 02149, Israel
Noam E. Protter: Chief Dental Surgeon & Head of Forensic Unit, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel–Hashomer 02149, Israel
Jonathan Levine: Department of Prosthodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Center, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel–Hashomer 02149, Israel
Tarif Bader: Brigadier General, Surgeon General’s Headquarters, Israel Defense Forces, Ramat Gan 5262000, Israel
Nirit Yavnai: Department of Military Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
Dorit Zur: Medical Information Department, General Surgeon Headquarter, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel–Hashomer 02149, Israel
Eitan Mijiritsky: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tel–Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel
Boaz Shay: Department of Oral Medicine, Sedation & Maxillofacial Imaging, Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-12

Abstract: Background: “SOS teeth” are defined as the first priority teeth for treatment, that have distinct cavitation reaching the pulp chamber or only root fragments are present. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and distribution of SOS teeth with regard to age and sex difference among young to middle-aged adults. Methods: This is a cross-sectional records-based study of a nationally representative sample, consisting of young to middle-aged military personnel, who attended the military dental clinics of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for one year. SOS teeth definition corresponds to code number 6 of the “Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST)” as an instrument to assess dental caries. Data pertaining to age and sex were drawn from the central demographic database and that of SOS teeth were obtained from the Dental Patient Record (DPR). Results: The study included 132,529 dental records. The prevalence of patients with SOS teeth was 9.18 % (12,146/132,323). The number of teeth that were found to be SOS teeth was 18,300, i.e., 1.5 SOS teeth per “diseased” patient (18,300/12,146). The mean number of SOS teeth per the whole study population was 0.14 ± 0.52 and the range was 0–20. The mean number of SOS teeth per patient had a statistically significant negative correlation with age ( p < 0.001; Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.997; 95% confidence interval: 0.997–0.998) and with male sex compared to females ( p < 0.001; OR = 1.029 confidence interval: 1.023–1.036). Conclusion: Assessment of first priority SOS teeth may be part of the dentist’s work-up. It provides dentists and health authorities with useful information regarding urgent dental care needs to plan dental services.

Keywords: caries; decayed teeth; electronic medical record; electronic dental record (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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