Systematic Review of the Literature on Dental Caries and Periodontal Disease in Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Individuals

Stefano Cianetti, Chiara Valenti, Massimiliano Orso, Giuseppe Lomurno, Michele Nardone, Anna Palma Lomurno, Stefano Pagano and Guido Lombardo
Additional contact information
Stefano Cianetti: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Odontostomatological University Centre, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy
Chiara Valenti: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Odontostomatological University Centre, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy
Massimiliano Orso: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Umbria e delle Marche “Togo Rosati”, 06126 Perugia, Italy
Giuseppe Lomurno: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Oral Surgery and Ambulatory, S. Maria della Misericordia Hospital, University of Perugia, 06129 Perugia, Italy
Michele Nardone: Local Health Authority Melegnano e della Martesana, 20063 Milan, Italy
Anna Palma Lomurno: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Odontostomatological University Centre, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy
Stefano Pagano: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Odontostomatological University Centre, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy
Guido Lombardo: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Odontostomatological University Centre, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-22

Abstract: Dental caries and periodontal disease represent a health problem and a social cost for the entire population, and in particular for socio-economically disadvantaged individuals who are less resistant to disease. The aim of this review is to estimate the prevalence and severity of the two dental pathologies, caries and periodontal disease, in the different classes of socio-economically disadvantaged subjects and to understand which of them are most affected. A systematic search of the literature was performed in MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE and Web of Science after establishing a suitable search strategy for each database, using keywords related to socio-economically vulnerable classes and health outcomes. Socio-economically disadvantaged individuals are more susceptible to tooth decay and periodontal disease (with relative tooth loss) than non-vulnerable people. Additionally, when multiple vulnerabilities are combined in the same subject, these oral diseases worsen. There is no type of vulnerability more affected by caries and periodontitis than others, since overall they all have severe disease indices. The data from this systematic literature review might be useful for health policy makers looking to allocate more resources and services to socially disadvantaged individuals, resulting in making them more resilient to oral disease due to their social marginalization.

Keywords: dental caries; periodontitis; socio-economic vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12360/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12360/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12360-:d:686883

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().