RESUMEN

In Sweden, dental care is carried out in regional operations, public dental care (Folktandvården), or in private practice. The patient is free to choose a public or private care provider. Up to and including the age of 23, all dental care is free of charge for the patient. From the age of 24, there is a state dental care subsidy to limit patient costs. There is free pricing in dental care, both for public and private actors. The article describes more in detail how the dental care support is structured in its various parts. Furthermore, the organization of dental care is presented, and a future perspective. A developed collaboration between dental and medical care and other health care seems increasingly obvious.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of caries preventive interventions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic review was conducted, following the PRISMA Statement. Four electronic databases were searched (final search 16 March 2020). Studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were independently critically appraised, by two reviewers in parallel. Data from each included study were extracted and tabulated: the analysis used a narrative approach to present the results of the estimated cost-effectiveness. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Twenty-six publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were of low or moderate risk of bias. Ten publications were economic evaluations, directly based on empirical studies, and the other 16 were modelling studies. Most of the studies concerned interventions for children and the most common were analyses of fluoride varnish and risk-based programs. Some of the studies showed both reduced cost and improved outcomes, but most studies reported that the improved outcome came with an additional cost. The results disclosed several cost-effectiveness evaluations of caries preventive interventions in the literature, but these target primarily children at high risk. There is a scarcity of studies specifically targeting adults and especially the elderly.

Asunto(s)

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: The present study was conducted to prospectively assess the association between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the development of dental caries in adults in northern Sweden. The SF-36 questionnaire was used to estimate HRQoL. METHODS: Adults who had (i) participated in a population-based health screening in northern Sweden between 2003 and 2009 and had completed the SF-36 questionnaire, and (ii) received a dental check-up within 1 year (n = 15,615) were included in the study. Of these, 9,838 had a second caries examination 2-7 years after the baseline recording. Information regarding SF-36, lifestyle factors and medical conditions was retrieved by questionnaires, and anthropometric status and blood lipid levels were measured. The association between dental caries (outcome) and SF-36 scores (exposure) with the inclusion of potential confounders was analysed by linear and logistic regression. RESULTS: Caries increment increased significantly with decreasing scores for both physical and mental dimensions of SF-36 in women, but no association was seen in men. However, lifelong caries experience (DMFS) increased linearly with decreasing physical HRQoL in both men and women; this was also observed for the single dimension of mental HRQoL. The crude odds ratio for being in the highest caries quintile compared to the lowest when having the poorest physical HRQoL compared with the best physical HRQoL was 1.88 (95 % CI: 1.54-2.3). Several factors were identified as potential confounders in the associations between DMFS and SF-36 scores, including education level, smoking, age, medications, higher levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, body mass index and sugar intake. Except for education level and smoking, the effect sizes for the association between gradually decreasing SF-36 scores and increasing caries were generally moderate. CONCLUSIONS: Increased development of caries was associated with low physical HRQoL and some aspects of mental HRQoL. The mechanisms underlying these associations, which are likely confounded by both biological and lifestyle factors, remain to be elucidated. The study implies that, when possible, subjects with poor HRQoL would benefit from caries prevention measures meeting the underlying situation.

Asunto(s)