Oral health-related quality of life, sense of coherence and dental anxiety: An epidemiological cross-sectional study of middle-aged women

The study had a cross-sectional design and included 500 randomly selected women in Gothenburg, Sweden, 38 and 50？years of age, from health examinations in 2004–05. The survey included questionnaires covering global questions concerning socio-economic status, oral health/function and dental care behaviour, and tests of oral health-related quality of life, sense of coherence, and dental anxiety.High dental anxiety and low sense of coherence predicted low oral health-related quality of life. In addition, socioeconomic status as measured by income, perceived oral functional status as captured by chewing ability and self-reported susceptibility to periodontal disease were also important predictors of oral health-related quality of life.Dental anxiety and sense of coherence had an inverse relationship with regard to oral health-related quality of life. These associations were stronger than other risk factors for low oral health-related quality of life.