| Abstract [eng] |
Relevance and aim: It is increasingly recognized that psycho-emotional factors, such as stress, anxiety, and depression, have an impact on oral health. Currently, there is a lack of data in the scientific literature to better understand the associations of psycho-emotional factors with the intensity of dental caries and dry mouth. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between subjective and objective psycho-emotional factors and dental caries in individuals with different dry mouth conditions. Methods and material: After receiving permission from the Bioethics Committee No. 2020/9-1263-746, data were collected in 2020–2023 using a cross-sectional design. The study participants were individuals from five healthcare institutions in Vilnius who complained of dry mouth. They disclosed their sociodemographic data and completed the questionnaires for their psycho-emotional status assessment: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which was divided into two subscales: anxiety (HADS-N) and depression (HADS-D) symptom assessment. The level of cortisol in saliva as the objective psycho-emotional measure was determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). During the clinical examination, the subjects underwent the unstimulated sialometry test to determine hyposalivation, and caries intensity evaluation for the Decayed, Missing, FIlled Surfaces (DMFS) index calculation. Subjects were divided into three groups based on their dry mouth status: Sjogren's syndrome, hyposalivation, or xerostomia groups. IBM SPSS 31.0.0 and Microsoft Excel 16.102.2 software were used for data analysis, Shapiro–Wilk, Pearson Chi square, Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon tests, Spearman correlation and negative binomial distribution regression analysis were applied. The result was considered statistically significant if p < 0.05. Results: There were 121 participants in the study, more of which were women (N = 101, 84%) than men (N = 19, 16 %). Age and DMFS index differences between dry mouth groups were statistically significantly different. A statistically significant, weak negative correlation was found between KPIP and HADS-N (ρ = –0.180, p = 0.048). According to the regression analysis adjusted for sociodemographic factors, only age remained statistically significantly associated with caries intensity (IRR = 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.01; 1.03), p < 0.001. Conclusions: Dental caries intensity significantly varied across dry mouth groups. No associations were found between psycho-emotional factors and dry mouth groups. Although the initial analysis found an association between higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of education intensity, no statistically significant associations were established when sociodemographic factors were included in the analysis. Future longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to better assess the associations of psycho-emotional factors, dental caries and dry mouth and their clinical implications. |
