Assessment of Oral Disease Burden Using A Cluster Analysis in Dentistry

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify homogeneous groups for Oral Disease Burden (ODB) with age through the K-Means cluster analysis in dentistry. Methods: In this retrospective study, 465 adult patients and 276 elderly patients treated at integrated students’ clinics in a public dental school (F/M:381/360; 18-91 years) were included. The ODB score (0-5 points) was calculated through the presence of periodontal problems, dental caries, pulpitis, need of prosthetic treatment, and need of tooth extraction. Homogeneous groups for ODB severity were identified within the dataset by K-Means cluster analysis. Results: The highest ratios of oral health problems were periodontal problems (94.0%) in young adult patients (cluster-1; n=201; 18-36 years; ODB: 2.92±1.14) and (87.4%) in adult patients (cluster-2; n=199; 37-55 years, ODB: 3.28±1.34) and need for prosthetic treatment (90.7%) in older adult patients (cluster-3; n=193; 56-70 years, ODB: 3.19±1.41) and (87.2%) in elderly patients (cluster-4; n=148; 71-91 years, ODB: 2.33±1.30). The highest ODB score was found in adult patients among four clusters. Older adult patients had elevated ODB score compared to that in elderly patients (P=.000). Conclusion: Needs of different treatment protocols or complex treatments were determined according to ODB with age groups defined by K-Means cluster analysis. These results may provide clues for developing patient empowerment strategies to improve oral health status as well as work force planning in integrated student clinics in dental schools. © 2025, Ataturk Universitesi. All rights reserved.