Social Class and Oral Health

Question 1

What is social class?

Answer 1

Sense of hierarchy within society i.e. (upper, middle, working, lower)

Question 2

How does social class tend to influence oral health?

Answer 2

Disparities in social inequalities and oral health, where lower classes tend to be more at risk of oral health complications

Question 3

Name 5 key risk factors in poor oral health

Answer 3

1. Social class
2. Smoking / Alcohol
3. Gender
4. Oral hygiene
5. Gender

Question 4

Describe the 5 levels of Social Class based on Occupation

Answer 4

I - Professional occupations
II - Managerial and technical occupations
III N - Skilled non-manual occupations
III M - Skilled manual occupations
IV - Partly-skilled occupations
V - Unskilled occupations

Question 5

What are 3 dimensions of newer methods of categorising class?

Answer 5

1. Economic
2. Social
3. Cultural

Question 6

What is a time horizon?

Answer 6

Separate indicator which describes how different classes tend to think about different lengths of times i.e. lowest class have no concept of future time / upper class think in a lifetime (inheritance, business etc)

Question 7

What are 5 judgements a person can make to base an opinion?

Answer 7

1. Appearance
2. Employment
3. Accent
4. Race / Ethnicity
5. Name

Question 8

What is human bias?

Answer 8

Human bias is hard-wired to make quick decisions that draw on a variety of assumptions and experiences without even knowing

Question 9

What are 2 major points with regards to dentistry and bias?

Answer 9

1. Be aware of personal stereotypes / judgements / bias

2. Effects of belonging to a particular social class

Question 10

How does social class tend to impact children?

Answer 10

• Children tend to hear more words if they are from professional backgrounds
• Children from lower income backgrounds tend to be more discouraged
• Children from lower income backgrounds tend to preform worse in maths and reading tests

Question 11

What are 5 major oral health problems associated with lower social class?

Answer 11

1. Increased decay
2. Greater number of teeth affected
3. Increased number of extractions
4. Increased cases of oral cancer
5. More unmet orthodontic needs

Question 12

What are 3 relationships between social class and health inequalities?

Answer 12

1. Materialism
2. Culture
3. Social captial

Question 13

What aspect of materialism with regards to lower social class will influence health inequalities?

Answer 13

Poor housing, lack of resources and higher risk occupations

Question 14

What aspect of culture with regards to lower social class will influence health inequalities?

Answer 14

Preference for a less healthy lifestyle involving smoking, fatty foods and less exercise

Question 15

What aspect of social capital with regards to lower social class will influence health inequalities?

Answer 15

Social isolation, unemployment and individuals are less likely to be members of groups or religious organisations

Question 16

What is the inverse care law?

Answer 16

Principle that the availability of good medical or social care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served

Question 17

What are 5 social effects of poor dental health?

Answer 17

1. Missed school / working days
2. Pain
3. Bad teeth, more treatment, anxiety, avoidance cycle
4. Teasing / bullying
5. Poor self-esteem

Question 18

What is the solution of social effects caused by poor dental health?

Answer 18

Implementation of effective and appropriate oral health promotion property and not by treating oral disease alone

Question 19

What are 3 common themes in addressing the issue of social effects of poor oral health?

Answer 19

1. Fairness (Marmot review)
2. Early intervention
3. Wider perspective

Question 20

What is the Marmot review?

Answer 20

Strategic review of health inequalities

Question 21

What are the 3 main elements of the Marmot review?

Answer 21

1. Reduce inequalities as a matter of fairness and justice
2. Focusing solely on most disadvantaged is wrong approach
3. To reduce steepness of gradient action must be proportionate to the level of disadvantage and at all levels

Question 22

What are 2 problems limiting early intervention in dental care?

Answer 22

1. Poor schools do not have the resources

2. Sugar products are consumed in schools at high rates

Question 23

What are 5 UK government focuses with regards to early prevention?

Answer 23

1. Early childhood
2. UK evidence based toolkit for prevention
3. Local empowerment initiatives
4. Initiatives to tackle unemployment
5. Communities designed for active ageing

Question 24

What is the UK evidence based toolkit for prevention?

Answer 24

Clear guidance about the advice dentists should give and the actions they should take to be sure they are doing the best for their patients in preventing disease

Question 25

What is the potential problem with dried fruit or fruit juice?

Answer 25

These foods are considered “healthy” yet have high levels of sugar which can damage children’s teeth

Question 26

What is a potential problem of snacking with regards to pH of the mouth?

Answer 26

Teeth become constantly bathed in acid, giving the saliva no time to neutralise the food and let the enamel recover

Question 27

Name 4 sources of input in an individuals social context

Answer 27

1. Family
2. Peers
3. Class
4. Workplace