ArticleBMC oral health2024
Depression and dental caries in US adults, NHANES 2015-2018.
Article in BMC oral health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interplay of depressive symptoms and clinical oral health conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Brazilian oral research · 2026Pooled it
- Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and Self-Reported Oral Health Status Are Associated with Change in Self-Reported Depression Status: A Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Oral health considerations in patients receiving antidepressant therapy: Clinical implications and management strategies.Bioinformation · 2026Article
- Barriers to oral health management in inpatients with late-life depression: a qualitative study.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Central adiposity indices and inflammatory markers mediate the association between life's crucial 9 and periodontitis in US adults.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis study aimed to investigate the link between depression and untreated dental caries among adults in the United States.
methodsData were collected from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (2015-2018); respondents aged 20 years or older who completed a patient health questionnaire and underwent a comprehensive oral examination were included. Participants were categorized into three groups according to depressive symptoms as follows: those with no, mild, or moderate to severe depression. Data were weighted, and multiple potential covariates were included in the analysis to provide national estimates and account for the complex sample design. A multivariable weighted logistic regression model was performed to test the hypothesis that varying degrees of depression in American adults are associated with untreated dental caries. Subgroup analyses were performed based on age and gender after adjusting for potential covariates. A P value of <.05 was considered significant.
resultsAmong 8740 participants, the prevalence of untreated coronal and root caries was 20.50% and 12.92%, respectively. Moderate to severe depression was a significant risk factor (odds ratio, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.66) for untreated root caries. The risk of untreated root caries increased by 87% in young adults (aged 20-44 years) and by 46% in women with moderate to severe depression. The suest analysis revealed that the impact of moderate to severe depressive disorder on untreated root caries was non-significantly different between the age subgroup (p=0.09) and sex subgroup (p=0.51). However, depression was non-significantly associated with untreated coronal caries (mild depression: OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.85-1.34; moderate to severe depression 1.06; 95% CI, 0.83-1.36; respectively).
conclusionThe results of this study suggested a significant association between moderate and severe depression and untreated root caries; however, the association with untreated coronal caries was non-significant. In the United States, moderate and severe depression in adults is associated with root caries.
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