title: Oral health status of 5-year-old Aborigine children compared with similar aged marginalised group in south western India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare and assess oral health status of 5-year-old Aborigine children with similar aged, marginalised children in coastal region of south western India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 418 Aborigine children were invited to participate in the study and a total of 428, 5-year-olds were selected randomly for comparison from other government schools to form the other marginalised group. The WHO (1997) proforma was used for clinical examinations. Chi Square test was used to compare between categorical variables. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for comparison between the two groups for quantitative variables. Logistic and linear regression analysis was performed to determine the importance of the factors associated with caries status. Odds ratio was calculated for all variables with 95% confidence intervals. P≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dental fluorosis was present in 50 (11.9%) Aborigine children, whereas in the other marginalised group 7 (1.6%) children had dental fluorosis (P≤0.001). Untreated dental caries was 76.3% for the Aborigine children and 70.3% in the comparison group. Mean dmft values in the two groups were 4.13±3.90 and 3.58±3.60, respectively (P>0.01). High frequency of between-meal sugar consumption was related to dental caries (OR =1.20; P=0.001). Utilisation of dental care and dental fluorosis were inversely related to dental caries (OR=1.16; P=0.001 and OR=1.91; P=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study revealed poor oral health status among both the marginalised groups. Significant differences were noted between the two groups with respect to oral hygiene practices, dietary habits, and dental utilisation pattern. Schools for tribal children, male gender, low frequency of cleaning teeth and higher in between-meal sugar consumption were significantly related to dental caries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's College of Dental Sciences, Bhopal, India Department of Community Dentistry, People's College of Dental Sciences, Bhopal, India. drabhinav@gmail.com
authors.forename: Abhinav
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Bharathi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sequeira
authors.forename: Shashidhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Acharya
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D009050:Fluorosis, Dental / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D019422:Dietary Sucrose