title: Parity & untreated dental caries in US women.
abstract: While parity (number of children) reportedly is related to tooth loss, the relationship between parity and dental caries has not been extensively investigated. We used path analysis to test a theoretical model that specified that parity influences dental caries levels through dental care, psycho- social factors, and dental health damaging behaviors in 2635 women selected from the NHANES III dataset. We found that while increased parity was not associated with a greater level of total caries (DFS), parity was related to untreated dental caries (DS). The mechanisms by which parity is related to caries, however, remain undefined. Further investigation is warranted to determine if disparities in dental caries among women are due to differences in parity and the likely changes that parallel these reproductive choices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology & Health Promotion, NYU College of Dentistry, 250 Park Avenue South, Room 635, New York, NY 10003, USA. slr6@nyu.edu
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ickovics
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Yaffee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004037:Diet, Cariogenic; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009790:Occupations; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking; D012923:Social Class; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult