The impact of universal access to dental care on disparities in caries experience in children.
BACKGROUND
The authors investigated the association between socioeconomic status and the severity of dental caries in 6- and 7-year-old children who had had access to dental care throughout their lives. The children had lived since birth in Nova Scotia, Canada, a province with a universal publicly financed dental care program.


METHODS
The authors selected a representative sample of first-grade children using a stratified multistage sampling method of primary schools (n = 1,614). The response rate was 78.8 percent. Two dentists were trained to diagnose dental caries using modified World Health Organization criteria. Intra- and interexaminer reliability was excellent (kappa > or = 0.88). Of the children who were examined (n = 1,271), 955 were lifelong residents of Nova Scotia, Canada, and so were included in this analysis. Data were weighted and adjusted for clustering (design) effects.


RESULTS
Only 8.4 percent of the children had visited a dental office before the age of 2 years, and 88.5 percent of the children had their first dental visit between the ages of 2 and 5 years. Children whose parents had completed a university education had a significantly lower mean number of decayed, missing and filled surfaces, or dmfs, in their primary teeth than did children whose parents had a lower education level. A Poisson regression model indicated that parents' high education status, optimal fluoride concentration in schools' water supplies, daily toothbrushing and dental visits for checkup were significantly associated with low dmfs scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Having access to a universal publicly financed dental insurance program since birth did not eliminate the disparities in caries experience.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis of a highly utilized universal dental insurance program suggests that disparities in oral health status cannot be reduced solely by providing universal access to dental care. Focused efforts by professional and governmental organizations should be directed toward understanding the socioeconomic, behavioral and community determinants of oral health disparities.
Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, 1011 N. University, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48109-1078, USA. ismailai@umich.edu
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D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004245:DMF Index; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005457:Fluoridation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D009674:Nova Scotia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015588:Observer Variation; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019472:Universal Health Insurance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data