Wider Dental Care Coverage Associated with Lower Oral Health Inequalities: A Comparison Study between Japan and England

Kanade Ito, Noriko Cable, Tatsuo Yamamoto, Kayo Suzuki, Katsunori Kondo, Ken Osaka, Georgios Tsakos, Richard G. Watt and Jun Aida
Additional contact information
Kanade Ito: Department of Oral Care for Systemic Health Support, Health Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo 113-8510, Japan
Noriko Cable: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 7HB, UK
Tatsuo Yamamoto: Department of Disaster Medicine and Dental Sociology, Graduate School of Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, Yokosuka 238-8580, Japan
Kayo Suzuki: Department of Policy Studies, Aichi Gakuin University, Nisshin 470-0195, Japan
Katsunori Kondo: Department of Social Preventive Medical Sciences, Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba 260-0856, Japan
Ken Osaka: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
Georgios Tsakos: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 7HB, UK
Richard G. Watt: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 7HB, UK
Jun Aida: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-10

Abstract: Countries with different oral health care systems may have different levels of oral health related inequalities. We compared the socioeconomic inequalities in oral health among older adults in Japan and England. We used the data for adults aged 65 years or over from Japan ( N = 79,707) and England ( N = 5115) and estimated absolute inequality (the Slope Index of Inequality, SII) and relative inequality (the Relative Index of Inequality, RII) for edentulism (the condition of having no natural teeth) by educational attainment and income. All analyses were adjusted for sex and age. Overall, 14% of the Japanese subjects and 21% of the English were edentulous. In both Japan and England, lower income and educational attainment were significantly associated with a higher risk of being edentulous. Education-based SII in Japan and England were 9.9% and 26.7%, respectively, and RII were 2.5 and 4.8, respectively. Income-based SII in Japan and England were 9.2% and 14.4%, respectively, and RII were 2.1 and 1.9, respectively. Social inequalities in edentulous individuals exist in both these high-income countries, but Japan, with wider coverage for dental care, had lower levels of inequality than England.

Keywords: international comparison; edentulism; oral health inequality; universal health coverage; slope index of inequality; relative index of inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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