Material Well-Being, Oral Health and Affordability of Dental Care in Late-Middle-Aged New Zealanders

Abstract

Background: Little is known about oral health among New Zealanders in late middle age. Planning for the needs of older people should be informed by adequate information on the oral health and dental service use of those who will be entering old age. Accordingly, we investigated material well-being-related inequalities in self-reported oral health, self-care and dental care affordability among late-middle-aged New Zealanders.

Method: This study was based on an analysis of data from the New Zealand Health, Work, and Retirement (HWR) 2016 study focused on its 6th biennial wave (2016–2018). There were 1952 participants (58% female) aged 55–64 years. Key dependent variables were self-reported oral health, chewing ability and the perceived affordability of dental care. The exposure variable of interest was material well-being, controlling for other socio-economic status (SES) measures (household income and educational qualifications). Cross-tabulations and logistic regression estimated the associations between financial and material well-being and the oral-health-related variables.

Results: Approximately 90% of participants had retained at least one natural tooth, and over half had more than 20 teeth remaining (functional dentition). Approximately 70% reported having good oral health. There were consistent gradients in self-rated oral health and dentition status by education level, household income and material well-being, with higher proportions among those who were better off. Just under one third of participants (30%) reported experiencing issues with dental care affordability. Material well-being showed the strongest associations with the abovementioned aspects of oral health and access to dental care than the other SES measures.

Conclusion: The findings provide important evidence of the association between material well-being in oral health and access to dental care.