Correlation of HIV-infection and HIV/HCV Co-infection with Oral Health Status of Inner-City Sub-population in Saskatchewan, Canada

Objectives. To identify the correlation of HIV-infection and HIV/HCV co-infection with the oral health status of patients accessing an inner-city dental clinic in Saskatchewan, Canada. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional chart review of 2000 electronic patient records was performed from an inner-city community dental clinic. Utilizing Andersen and Newman framework of health service utilization, simple, bivariate and multivariate comparisons were conducted. Results. More than half of the patients 53% (n=1,065) were within the ages of 36 to 65. The patient charts represented a mixture of ethnicities including immigrants to Canada (e.g., from Syria, Iran, Europe, China) and Indigenous people. Six percent (n=111) of patients were recorded positive for HIV/AIDS, while 3% (n=46) of patients recorded both HIV/HCV-co-infection. Forty-five percent (n=844) of patients had dental decay. In the bivariate analyses, smoking ([mean]: 3.0 vs. 2.1), being positive for HIV ([mean]: 4.1 vs. 2.6] and HCV ([mean]: 3.7 vs. 2.7) appeared to be associated with higher number of mean decayed teeth. Drug or alcohol addiction (p<.0001), HIV-positive status (p<.0001), and diagnosis of a mental disorder (p=.0037) were associated with the missing teeth. The multivariate analysis confirmed either HIV-positive or HCV-positive had a higher DMF rate compared with those without. Patients who were both HIV and HCV-positive had an estimated DMF rate almost double of those without either condition (IRR=1.84, p<.0001). Conclusion. Several psychosocial factors, HIV-infection and HCV-infection were associated with higher number of decayed and missing teeth.