Predictors of self-reported oral health in the Black Women's Health Study

Objectives: To describe the self-reported oral health of participants in the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), a national cohort of 59,000 Black women, and to assess factors associated with this self-report.

Methods: Annual follow-up of the BWHS cohort occurs via surveys. The 2011 questionnaire included oral health self-report items, on which 38,573 respondents had complete data. Sample characteristics were summarized using descriptive statistics. We assessed correlations with several covariates by estimating odds ratios using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models.

Results: Those who reported fair or poor oral health were more likely to report current smoking, recent tooth loss, diabetes or hypertension diagnoses, lower education levels, obesity, and higher parity. Few factors were related to self-reported gum disease with bone loss.

Conclusions: The oral health of US Black women is poorly understood. Correlates of oral health in the BWHS are largely consistent with what has been observed in other populations.