R01DE12457
GILBERT, GREGG H
PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
TITLE:  EFFECT OF DENTAL CARE ON OUTCOMES IMPORTANT TO PATIENTS
 
ABSTRACT:
        This research will address a fundamental question that has yet to be
addressed in the dental literature: what is the effectiveness of dental care
on dimensions of oral health that are the most important to patients
(self-reported oral pain & discomfort, functional limitation, disadvantage,
and self-rated oral health)?  The dental care of interest is that provided
in private practice, non-academic settings for diverse patient populations.
        Four specific aims will test hypotheses that regular dental
attendance, problem-oriented dental attendance, cost of dental services, and
use of specific types of dental care, are associated with differences in
each self-reported dimension of oral health (disease & tissue damage, pain &
discomfort, functional limitation, disadvantage, and self-rated oral
health), as well as clinical measures determined by direct clinical
examination.  These four hypotheses will be tested after recording all
dental treatment received by 873 subjects in the Florida Dental Care Study
(FDCS; DE-11020) during a four-year period.  Treatment will be abstracted
from the clinical records of approximately 330 dental practices named by
subjects in the FDCS.  These dental treatment data will then be linked with
clinical and self-reported oral health data being gathered with DE-11020.
        This research will answer key questions about what long-term
benefits result from the use of specific dental services.  It will also
provide an understanding of what benefits, or lack thereof, high-risk groups
(e.g., African-Americans) perceive as being derived from their use of
specific dental services.
        This proposed research will use an approach that is both innovative
(gathers data directly from private practice records and emphasizes
self-reported dimensions of oral health) and cost-efficient (uses the FDCS
as a "parent" study), to answer fundamental questions about the relationship
between dental care and self-reported dimensions of oral health that matter
the most to patients.