Socioeconomic status and self-reported oral health in Iranian adolescents: the role of selected oral health behaviors and psychological factors

Objectives: This study investigated health inequality for self-reported oral health outcomes among adolescents. The role of oral health behaviors and psychological factors in explaining oral health inequality was investigated using the hypothesis of mediation. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that used self-completed questionnaires. This study sampled 639 (315 male and 324 female) 15- to 17-year-old adolescents (second and third grade high school students) of both sexes in the city of Sanandaj in the province of Kurdistan, western Iran. Socioeconomic indicators of the study were subjective socioeconomic status, wealth index, and parental education. Oral health behaviors were measured as toothbrushing frequency, dental flossing frequency, and dental visits. Psychological factors were self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. Self-reported oral health outcomes were single item self-rated oral health and the experience of dental pain. Regression analysis was used to test four conditions for the hypothesis of mediation. Results: The results showed that the inequality is present in oral health for some pairs of relationships between socioeconomic status and oral health outcomes. Adjustment for oral health behaviors and psychological factors, individually and simultaneously, led to loss of statistical significance for some pairs of the relationships. However, adjustment for oral health behaviors and psychological factors led to only small changes in the associations between socioeconomic status and self-reported oral health outcomes. Conclusions: This study found a graded oral health inequality, but no strong evidence to support the hypothesis that oral health behaviors and psychological factors mediate oral health inequality for self-reported oral health outcomes.