Community socioeconomic status and children's dental health

Background. Although a substantial decline in dental caries has occurred am ong U.S. children, not everyone has benefited equally. The first-ever surge on general's report on oral health in America indicates that the burden of oral diseases is found in poor Americans. This study investigates the relat ionship between community socioeconomic status, or SES, and dental health o f children. Methods. An oral health survey of 17,256 children, representing 93 percent of children residing in 62 Tennessee communities, was conducted in public e lementary schools during the 1996-1997 school year. Portable dental equipme nt was used far examinations, and data from each examination were entered d irectly into a laptop computer. The authors performed analyses of covarianc e to examine the relationship between community SES (low/medium/high) and d ental health, controlling for community fluoridation. Results. Community SES was significantly related to caries experience in th e primary teeth, the proportion of untreated caries in the primary and perm anent teeth, dental treatment needs, dental sealants and incisor trauma. Ov erall, dental health was Significantly worse for low-SES communities than f or medium- and high-SES communities. Conclusion. The authors conclude that all specific dental indexes used to m easure children's dental health in this study, with the exceptions of carie s experience in the permanent teeth and sealant presence, were inversely re lated to the communities' SES. The percentage of children with dental seala nts was directly related to the community's SES. Practice Implications. Further improvements in oral health will necessitate that community-based preventive programs and access to quality dental care be made available to children who are identified as being at highest risk of experiencing oral disease.