title: Disparities in oral health of children in Tehran, Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This was to investigate the association between parents' educational level and oral health of Iranian primary school children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data came from the voluntary clinical examination in 2005 of a random sample of 459 third-year primary school children in the 16 schools in Tehran, together with a self-administered questionnaire regarding information on the educational level of the parents. The study used the dmft/DMFT values for dental status, and the CPI, and PI to assess periodontal condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean dmft value was 4.2 (SD+2.9) in boys and 3.4 (SD+2.6) in girls for the whole study group. The children of the low education parents had more dental caries than those of high education parents in both primary (p<0.01) and in permanent teeth (p<0.05). A strong association was found between high parental education and restorations in primary teeth (p<0.001), but only a trend for restorations in permanent teeth. Mean number of sextants with a CPI score 0 was significantly associated with parents' educational level (p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The disparities in the oral health of children need to be considered when developing oral health promotion programmes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Saied-Moallemi
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tehranchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murtomaa
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010290:Parents; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors