Determinants of oral health care utilization among diverse groups of immigrants in New York City.
BACKGROUND
Few studies have examined utilization of oral health care services among immigrants. The authors examined the determinants of utilization of oral health care among a diverse group of immigrants in New York City.


METHODS
The authors examined and interviewed 1,417 foreign-born people, aged 18 to 65 years, who were residents of New York City. They conducted examinations by using criteria established by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Bethesda, Md. The authors used unconditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95 percent confidence intervals for having visited a dentist within the previous year for each of the independent variables.


RESULTS
More than 70 percent of the participants lacked dental insurance and only about 31 percent reported that they had visited a dentist within the previous year. Flossing (OR = 1.18), dental insurance (OR = 1.58), having a regular source of dental care (OR = 4.76) and more filled teeth (1.33) were independent predictors of utilization of services.


CONCLUSIONS
Having a regular source of dental care and having dental insurance are important predictors of immigrants' utilization of oral health care services in New York City.


CONCLUSIONS
The study results suggest the importance of establishing affordable, culturally appropriate, community-based oral health care services to improve the oral health of vulnerable populations.
Cruz
Gustavo D
GD
Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, College of Dentistry, New York University, 250 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10003-1402, USA. gdc1@nyu.edu
Chen
Yu
Y
Salazar
Christian R
CR
Karloopia
Rajiv
R
LeGeros
Racquel Z
RZ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000175:diagnosis; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007347:Insurance, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000175:diagnosis; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult