Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 104, Issue 7, Pages E85-E91Publisher
AMER PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOC INC
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301930
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Funding
- Southeast Center for Research to Reduce Disparities in Oral Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research [1U54DE019261]
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Objectives. We examined whether health literacy was associated with self-rated oral health status and whether the relationship was mediated by patient-dentist communication and dental care patterns. Methods. We tested a path model with data collected from 2 waves of telephone surveys (baseline, 2009-2010; follow-up, 2011) of individuals residing in 36 rural census tracts in northern Florida (final sample size n = 1799). Results. Higher levels of health literacy were associated with better self-rated oral health status (B = 0.091; P < .001). In addition, higher levels of health literacy were associated with better patient-dentist communication, which in turn corresponded with patterns of regular dental care and better self-rated oral health (B = 0.003; P = .01). Conclusions. Our study showed that, beyond the often-reported effects of gender, race, education, financial status, and access to dental care, it is also important to consider the influence of health literacy and quality of patient-dentist communication on oral health status. Improved patient-dentist communication is needed as an initial step in improving the population's oral health.
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