{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T22:18:23Z","timestamp":1780093103680,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,14]],"date-time":"2025-07-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1752451200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Oral Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Oral health is crucial to overall well-being and is often described as a \u201cwindow to general health\u201d due to the strong bidirectional relationship between the two. This paper aims to assess the relationship between self-perceived general health and oral health among U.S. adults.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study analyzed data from the 2015\u20132018 NHANES, comprising 11,566 U.S. adults. Statistical analyses included weighted percentages, chi-square tests, and logistic regression to evaluate the relationships between self-perceived general health status and oral health predictors.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Each unit increase in DMFT (decayed, missing due to caries, and filled teeth) resulted in a 2% increase in the odds of reporting fair to poor health compared with excellent to good health (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.01). Additionally, for each additional decayed permanent tooth and each missing tooth, the odds of reporting fair to poor health compared with excellent to good health increased by approximately 38% (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.004) and 43% (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.010), respectively.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study suggests that higher DMFT scores, untreated dental decay, and missing teeth are associated with poorer self-perceived general health among U.S. adults. We recommend incorporating oral health assessments into general health check-ups, raising public awareness about their connection, and improving collaboration between medical and dental professionals to enhance patient care and preventive measures.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/froh.2025.1590604","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,14]],"date-time":"2025-07-14T05:25:59Z","timestamp":1752470759000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Self-perceived general health and its impact on oral health in the U.S. adult population: NHANES 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