Dental News - Minority children most at risk of dental caries

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 26. April 2018

save

HYATTSVILLE, Md., U.S.: Research has shown that dental caries is the most common chronic disease among young people living in the U.S. aged 6–19. According to a recent report on the situation in this regard in 2015/2016, monitoring the prevalence of untreated and total caries is key to preventing and controlling oral disease. The study found that fewer young people in the U.S. have dental caries than before, but minority children continue to have higher rates compared with their peers.

The report dealt with the prevalence of total and untreated caries in primary or permanent teeth among youth aged 2–19 for 2015/2016 and trends from 2011/2012 through 2015/2016. The data were drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the respective study periods.

In general, the prevalence of caries declined from 50 percent in 2011/2012 to a little over 43 percent in 2015/2016 among young people in the U.S. aged 2–19. For the 2015/2016 study period, the researchers found an increasing prevalence of caries with respect to age: 17.7 percent among children aged 2–5, 45.2 percent for those between 6 and 11, and 53.5 percent among youth aged 12–19.

Hispanic youth had the highest total and untreated caries (52.0 percent) compared with black (44.3 percent), Asian (42.6 percent) and white youth (39.0 percent). However, untreated caries was highest among black youth (17.1 percent), followed by Hispanic (13.5 percent), white (11.7 percent) and Asian youth (10.5 percent).

The researchers also noted that income level affects the prevalence of caries, since the prevalence of total dental caries decreased with increasing family income levels. Youth from families living below the federal poverty level had 51.8 percent caries prevalence, compared with 34.2 percent for children from families with income levels greater than 300 percent of the poverty level. Untreated caries decreased from 18.6 percent for children from families living below the federal poverty level to 7.0 percent for those from families with incomes greater than 300 percent of the poverty level. In 2016, $24,300 in annual income was considered the poverty guideline for a family of four, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Our intent in conducting this study was to provide up-to-date prevalence estimates for dental caries in children. We decided that our study would focus on dental caries because of the serious and negative impact untreated caries can have on children. Untreated caries cause pain and infection. Children miss days from school and have their overall quality of life effected by untreated dental caries. This is an important public health concern for America’s youth,” said lead author Dr. Eleanor Fleming.

The study, titled “Prevalence of total and untreated dental caries among youth: United States, 2015–2016,” was published in April 2018 in the NCHS Data Brief.

Tags:

To post a reply please login or register

Prevalence of MIH exceeds that of dental caries among children in Germany

BERLIN, Germany: Enamel fractures of freshly erupted molars that appear porous, hypersensitivity of the affected teeth and continued loss of fillings—this...

“Dental surgeons have an important role to play in identifying patients at risk of OSA”

Combining her expertise in both oral and maxillofacial surgery with sleep medicine, Dr Mei Hui Tan’s presentation at IDEM 2024 offered clinicians the ...

Dental health inequalities most apparent in young children

GOTHENBURG, Sweden: Despite the fact that the Swedish government has provided free dental care to children and young people for decades, research has shown ...

Novel discovery may help in early caries detection in high-risk children

UMEÅ, Sweden: Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have made a novel discovery connecting highly virulent types of the Streptococcus mutans caries ...

New study: 7 percent of children in orthodontic care at risk for sleep disorders

CLEVELAND, Ohio, U.S.: Researchers at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Dental Medicine have found that about 7 percent of children between ages...

Patients affected by mental health at higher risk of poor dental outcomes

PERTH, Australia: A study published by researchers at the University of Western Australia has found that many dental professionals in Perth do not feel ...

EFP reveals stunning global cost of gingivitis, caries, tooth loss

BRUSSELS, Belgium: A white paper commissioned by the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) has found that 4.9% of global healthcare expenditure goes ...

Low-cost tooth sensitivity liquid found to combat dental caries

NEW YORK, US: Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) has clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of tooth sensitivity, and there is strong ...

Post-COVID recovery fuels success of cost-conscious dental implant solutions and digital dentistry

The long-awaited post-pandemic recovery and reopening of dental practices for patients after the COVID-19 pandemic has not only produced a spike in the ...

Early preventive dental care may not reduce caries risk

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., USA: There is a recommendation for children to have a dental visit by 6 months of age, but there is insufficient evidence of improved ...

Education

Live webinar
Mon. 29 April 2024
12:30 pm EST (New York)