Socioeconomic Disparities in the Self-Perceived Oral Health, Missing Teeth and Dentures in the Adult Population of Serbia

Stepovic, Milos; Vasic, Milena; Opancina, Valentina; Celebic, Amela Rastoder; Folic, Nevena; Sekulic, Marija

doi:10.2478/eabr-2025-0002

Figures & Tables

Self-perceived oral health in adult population according to the socio-demographic characteristics

Variables	Self-perceived health of teeth and gums												p
	No answer		Very good		Good		Average		Bad		Very bad
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender
Male	309	4.8	904	14.1	2081	32.5	1463	22.8	1262	19.7	388	6.1	<0.001
Female	363	6.0	897	14.9	1990	33.0	1385	23.0	1094	18.1	303	5.0	<0.001
Age groups
20–34	209	31.7	990	55.0	962	23.6	183	6.4	59	2.5	6	0.9	<0.001
35–44	97	14.7	404	22.4	950	23.3	335	11.8	144	6.1	19	2.7
45–54	94	14.3	194	10.8	798	19.6	545	19.1	305	12.9	51	7.4
55–64	81	12.3	127	7.1	673	16.5	732	25.7	598	25.4	173	25.0
65–74	56	8.5	62	3.4	502	12.3	719	25.2	733	31.1	221	32.0
75+	122	18.5	24	1.3	186	4.6	334	11.7	517	21.9	221	32.0
Marital status
Marriage/cohabiting	307	46.9	897	50.0	2736	67.3	1981	69.7	1506	63.9	411	58.9	<0.001
Never married or cohabiting	220	33.6	810	45.1	814	20.0	241	8.5	129	5.5	24	3.5
Divorce. separation or death of partner	128	19.5	88	4.9	513	12.6	620	21.8	720	30.6	255	37.0
Region
Belgrade region	124	18.8	619	34.4	973	23.9	628	22.1	435	18.5	129	18.7	<0.001
Region of Vojvodina	193	29.3	389	21.6	879	21.6	598	21.0	549	23.3	181	26.2
Sumadia and West Serbia region	144	21.9	506	28.1	1456	35.8	947	33.3	701	29.8	218	31.5
South and East Serbia region	198	30.0	287	15.9	763	18.7	675	23.7	671	28.5	163	23.6
Education level
Elementary school or less	207	31.6	91	5.1	566	13.9	766	26.9	1060	45.0	376	54.5	<0.001
High school	339	51.8	1076	59.8	2535	62.3	1684	59.1	1093	46.4	276	40.0
Higher school or Faculty	109	16.6	633	35.2	970	23.8	397	13.9	203	8.6	38	5.5
Index of wellbeing
Poor and poorest layer	297	45.1	534	29.7	1403	34.5	1188	41.7	1211	51.4	386	55.9	<0.001
Middle layer	111	16.8	338	18.8	869	21.3	585	20.5	484	20.5	133	19.2
Rich and wealthy layer	251	38.1	929	51.6	1799	44.2	1075	37.7	661	28.1	172	24.9
Employment status
employed	229	35.3	1023	57.6	2046	50.8	836	29.8	433	18.6	78	11.4	<0.001
unemployed	116	17.9	330	18.6	836	20.8	522	18.6	391	16.8	76	11.1
Inactive/retired	303	46.8	422	23.8	1142	28.4	1146	51.6	1509	64.7	531	77.5

Socidemographic characteristics by gender and total

Variables	Gender				Total		p
	Male		Female		Total
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Mean age ±Standard deviation	51.7±17.5		53.8±17.8		52.8±17.7		<0.001
Age groups
20–34	1260	20.9	1149	17.9	2409	19.4	<0.001
35–44	991	16.4	958	15.0	1949	15.7
45–54	991	16.4	998	15.6	1989	16.0
55–64	116	18.7	1261	19.7	2387	19.2
65–74	1072	17.8	1225	19.1	2297	18.5
75+	592	9.8	816	12.7	1408	11.3
Marital status
Marriage/cohabiting	3941	65.3	3903	61.1	7844	63.2	<0.001
Never married or cohabiting	1409	23.4	830	13.0	2239	18.0
Divorce. separation or death of partner	671	11.1	1659	26.0	2330	18.8
Region
Belgrade region	1363	22.6	1549	24.2	2912	23.4	0.108
Region of Vojvodina	1343	22.3	1450	22.6	2793	22.5
Sumadia and West Serbia region	1977	32.8	2000	31.2	3977	32.0
South and East Serbia region	1349	22.4	1408	22.0	2757	22.2
Education level
Elementary school or less	1174	19.5	1896	29.6	3070	24.7	<0.001
High school	3739	62.1	3270	51.0	7009	56.4
Higher school or Faculty	1112	18.5	1240	19.4	2352	18.9
Index of wellbeing
Poor and poorest layer	2414	40.0	2608	40.7	5022	40.4	0.334
Middle layer	1206	20.0	1319	20.6	2525	20.3
Rich and wealthy layer	2412	40.0	2480	38.7	4892	39.3
Employment status
employed	2586	42.9	2062	32.2	4648	37.4	<0.001
unemployed	1168	19.4	1103	17.2	2271	18.3
Inactive/retired	2171	36.0	3192	49.8	5636	43.1
Total	6032	48.5	6407	51.5	12439	100

Occurrence of teeth recoupments in the adult population according to the socio-demographic characteristics

Variables	Occurrence of teeth recoupments
	Total removable dentures		p	Partial removable dentures		p	Fixed dentures - bridge		p	Implants		p
	Yes	No	p	Yes	No	p	Yes	No	p	Yes	No	p
Gender
Male	35.0	50.6	<0.001	37.4	49.6	<0.001	41.4	48.7	<0.001	44.9	48.0	<0.001
Female	65.0	49.4	<0.001	62.6	50.4	<0.001	58.6	51.3	<0.001	55.1	52.0	<0.001
Age groups
20–34	0.2	13.3	<0.001	1.4	12.6	<0.001	0.3	14.2	<0.001	9.2	11.0	<0.001
35–44	1.9	17.1		5.4	15.9		1.8	16.2		21.2	14.1
45–54	6.8	19.4		14.2	17.7		5.8	18.5		22.4	16.9
55–64	22.2	22.0		29.7	20.8		23.2	23.1		25.6	21.9
65–74	36.3	18.8		33.1	20.1		33.6	19.0		15.8	22.2
75+	32.6	9.4		16.3	13.0		35.3	9.2		5.9	13.8
Marital status
Marriage/cohabiting	59.1	68.2	<0.001	71.1	65.9	<0.001	72.3	65.9	<0.001	71.5	66.4	<0.001
Never married or cohabiting	2.9	13.5		3.1	13.0		5.9	12.3		13.2	11.5
Divorce, separation. death of partner	38.8	18.3		25.7	21.2		21.8	21.8		15.3	22.1
Region
Belgrade region	21.2	21.4	<0.001	25.3	20.7	<0.001	34.3	19.7	<0.001	20.2	21.4	<0.001
Region of Vojvodina	27.0	21.9		26.2	22.2		17.3	23.5		25.2	22.7
Sumadia and West Serbia region	33.6	31.8		28.2	32.8		31.1	32.3		36.0	32.0
South and East Serbia region	18.3	24.9		20.3	24.3		17.4	24.5		18.6	23.9
Education level
Elementary school or less	43.9	25.4	<0.001	28.6	28.7	<0.001	15.7	30.3	<0.001	15.3	29.2	<0.001
High school	44.9	58.0		55.8	55.7		58.9	55.3		56.7	55.7
Higher school or Faculty	11.2	16.6		15.6	15.6		25.4	14.4		28.0	15.1
Index of wellbeing
Poor and poorest layer	41.5	42.5	<0.001	36.8	43.3	<0.001	27.5	44.2	<0.001	30.6	42.8	<0.001
Middle layer	22.2	19.9		22.4	20.0		20.6	20.3		14.8	20.6
Rich and wealthy layer	36.4	37.6		40.8	36.8		51.9	35.5		54.6	36.6
Employment status
employed	10.9	38.7	<0.001	22.3	35.7	<0.001	37.3	33.3	<0.001	51.7	33.0	<0.001
unemployed	8.1	20.4		11.6	19.3		13.0	18.9		16.7	18.3
Inactive/retired	81.0	40.9		66.1	45.0		49.7	47.8		31.7	48.8

Missing teeth (including implants) in adult population according to socio-demographic characteristics

Variables	Missing teeth (including dental implants)												p
	No answers		I have all natural teeth		I’m missing 1–5 teeth		I’m missing 6–10 teeth		I’m missing more than 10 teeth but still have some of mine		I don’t have any natural teeth
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender
Male	62	53.0	1124	51.3	2054	52.1	959	49.7	1315	45.9	518	37.1	<0.001
Female	55	47.0	1065	48.7	1888	47.9	970	50.3	1551	54.1	878	62.9	<0.001
Age groups
20–34	6	5.1	1288	58.8	1003	25.4	71	3.7	35	1.2	6	0.4	<0.001
35–44	11	9.4	479	21.9	109	27.7	241	12.5	109	3.8	19	1.4
45–54	17	14.5	233	10.6	852	21.6	439	22.8	378	13.2	70	5.0
55–64	32	27.4	118	5.4	605	15.3	573	29.7	790	27.6	269	19.3
65–74	34	29.1	49	2.2	314	8.0	441	22.5	952	33.2	507	36.9
75+	17	14.5	22	1.0	78	2.0	164	8.5	602	21.0	525	37.6
Marital status
Marriage/cohabiting	77	67.5	1029	47.2	2659	67.6	1404	72.9	1916	66.9	759	54.5	<0.001
Never married or cohabiting	11	9.6	1056	48.5	860	21.9	141	7.3	127	4.4	44	3.2
Divorce, separation. death of partner	26	22.8	94	4.3	416	10.6	381	19.8	823	28.7	590	42.4
Region
Belgrade region	75	64.1	712	32.5	871	22.1	452	23.4	508	17.1	294	21.1	<0.001
Region of Vojvodina	20	17.1	458	20.9	843	21.4	358	18.6	686	23.9	428	30.7
Sumadia and West Serbia region	10	8.5	689	31.5	1314	33.3	698	36.2	916	32.0	350	25.1
South and East Serbia region	12	10.3	330	15.1	914	23.2	421	21.8	756	26.4	324	23.2
Education level
Elementary school or less	20	17.9	135	6.2	518	13.1	487	25.2	1206	42.1	704	50.5	<0.001
High school	55	49.1	1305	59.6	2515	63.8	1190	61.7	1374	48.0	570	40.9
Higher school or Faculty	37	33.0	748	34.2	909	23.1	252	13.1	285	9.9	121	8.7
Index of wellbeing
Poor and poorest layer	31	26.5	685	31.3	1509	38.3	758	39.3	1391	48.5	648	46.4	<0.001
Middle layer	27	23.1	442	20.2	759	19.3	417	21.6	582	20.3	298	21.3
Rich and wealthy layer	59	50.4	1062	48.5	1674	42.5	754	39.1	893	31.2	450	32.2
Employment status
employed	37	31.9	1230	57.1	2164	55.7	629	33.2	469	16.5	119	8.6	<0.001
unemployed	18	15.5	427	19.8	917	23.6	373	19.7	427	15.0	109	7.9
Inactive/retired	61	52.6	498	23.1	806	20.7	895	47.2	1949	68.5	1154	83.5

Predictors of poor self-perceived oral health using multinomial logistic regression

Self-perceived poor oral health	B	Std. Error	Wald	df	Sig.	OR	95% CI for OR
Self-perceived poor oral health	B	Std. Error	Wald	df	Sig.	OR	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
Total denture	0.8	0.1	43.9	1.0	0.00	2.2	1.8	2.8
Partial denture	0.6	0.1	13.7	1.0	0.00	1.7	1.3	2.3
Fixed prostatic	0.2	0.2	1.1	1.0	0.30	1.3	0.8	1.9
Implant	1.4	0.6	5.2	1.0	0.00	4.0	1.2	13.0
Missing 1–5 teeth	3.2	0.4	64.5	1.0	0.00	25.3	11.5	55.6
Missing 6–10 teeth	2.6	0.2	135.6	1.0	0.00	13.8	8.8	21.4
Missing more than 10 teeth	1.5	0.1	155.3	1.0	0.00	4.5	3.5	5.7

Socioeconomic Disparities in the Self-Perceived Oral Health, Missing Teeth and Dentures in the Adult Population of Serbia

Figures & Tables

Self-perceived oral health in adult population according to the socio-demographic characteristics

Socidemographic characteristics by gender and total

Occurrence of teeth recoupments in the adult population according to the socio-demographic characteristics

Missing teeth (including implants) in adult population according to socio-demographic characteristics

Predictors of poor self-perceived oral health using multinomial logistic regression

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