Dental caries and treatment experience of adults from minority ethnic communities living in the South Thames Region, UK.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the dental caries and treatment experience of groups of adults from minority ethnic communities living in the South Thames Region of England.


METHODS
Cross-sectional clinical study.


METHODS
Community, religious and educational centres for adults from minority ethnic communities.


METHODS
Snowball sample of 928 adults from 44 ethnic groups including: Black Caribbean (141), Black African (134); Pakistani (123); Indian (190); Bangladeshi (78); Chinese/Vietnamese (143) and 119 from other groups.


RESULTS
More participants were dentate or had 18 or more sound and untreated teeth than adults living in the same area (Todd and Lader, 1991). Duration of residence in the United Kingdom predicted caries or treatment experience in the sample as a whole and in Chinese/Vietnamese people. Increased DMFT was predicted by age and by history of visiting a UK dentist in the sample as a whole and in the Black African group.


CONCLUSIONS
Effect of duration of UK residence on presence and extent of caries suggests that oral health may be better among adults from these ethnic minority groups than among the general population. However, the differences can also be attributed to sampling bias and old comparison data. Better sampling strategies are required for research of this type.
Robinson
P G
PG
Division of Dental Public Health and Oral Health Services Research, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' Dental Institute, King's College London, UK. peter.g.robinson@kcl.ac.uk
Bhavnani
V
V
Khan
F A
FA
Newton
T
T
Pitt
J
J
Thorogood
N
N
Gelbier
S
S
Gibbons
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D044383:Black People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000208:ethnology; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004245:DMF Index; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D016015:Logistic Models; D008913:Minority Groups; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires