Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / There has been a tremendous influx in the number of Hispanic immigrants
into the US over the past couple of decades. Many newcomers have families with
small children, and dental needs in this pediatric population are disproportionately
high.
The purpose of this study was to determine if there was any correlation
between the increased prevalence of caries and socioeconomic or cultural factors in
Hispanic children ages six months to eight years old. To accomplish this, 127
children were given dental examinations by a calibrated dental examiner, and their
parents completed a two-page questionnaire with questions regarding
socioeconomic factors, den1ographics, and cultural issues.
The bivariate relation between caries status and demographic and cultural
variables was examined using chi-square tests or Fisher's exact tests for categorical
variables and logistic regression for continuous variables. Bivariate relation
between defs and demographic and cultural variables was examined using analysis
of variance (ANOVA).
The mean defs for children up to age two was 1.53; ages two to five the
mean defs was 7.73, and for ages six to eight, 9.18. As the prevalence of caries
increases with age, the child is more likely to access dental care, but despite this,
there is an overall mean 79 percent of untreated decay (of decayed, missing and
filled surfaces). In the permanent dentition, the overall mean DMFS was found to
be 2.22.
There were several factors found to be statistically significant to the
incidence of defs. If the child had dental insurance, the child was more likely to
have higher defs. If a child had more siblings, the defs score was higher. If the
child was on the bottle at less than age one-and-a-half, the child was less likely to
have dental caries. If the child on the bottle was older than age one-and-a-half, the
child was much more likely to have dental caries. The older the child is when the
child goes off the bottle, the more likely the child will have a higher caries
experience.
There is an extraordinarily large number of untreated caries found in
Hispanic children. The reasons for this are multifactorial, but involve cost,
language barriers, being new to the area, and not having seen a dentist yet.
Identifying those at high risk such as single mothers, those with increased
numbers of siblings, and infants that are still on the bottle, or older children that are
at increased jeopardy due to prolonged use of the bottle are important factors in
treating those that are underserved.
Local dental and community organizations could benefit from being
apprised of the unmet dental need of Hispanic children and some of the contributing
factors. By further investigating and understanding some of the socioeconomic and
cultural issues that present barriers to care, treatment might become more accessible
and available. Adverse outcomes such as missed school and opportunities for
acculturation, inadequate nutrition, pain, and infection might be avoided or
diminished.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/3689 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Kugar, Jennifer R. |
| Contributors | Yoder, Karen S. Masbaum, 1941-, Avery, David R., Sanders, Brian J., Weddell, James A. (James Arthur), 1949-, Martinez Mier, Esperanza de los A. (Esperanza de los Angeles), 1967-, Mallatt, Mark E. (Mark Edward), 1950-, Dean, Jeffrey A. |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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