title: Socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries and their determinants in adolescents in New Delhi, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether socioeconomic inequalities are correlated to dental caries experience and decayed teeth of Indian adolescents, and assess whether behavioural and psychosocial factors mediate this association.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study of 1386 adolescents living in three diverse areas of New Delhi. Caries experience and number of decayed teeth were assessed clinically and a questionnaire was used to gather sociodemographic and psychosocial data. Zero Inflated Negative Binomial regression models were used to assess the relationship between the outcomes (caries experience and decayed teeth) and area of residence, adjusting for covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant inequalities in caries experience and number of decayed teeth were observed. Odds of an adolescent being caries free decreased by 66% (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.49) and 70% (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.43) in adolescents living in resettlement communities or urban slums, respectively, when compared with the middle class group. No difference was observed among those with caries experience/decayed teeth. Adjusting for covariates did not affect the inequalities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Area of residence appears to be a very strong and significant determinant for an adolescent to be caries/decay free in India. Psychosocial and behavioural factors do not mediate the association between area of residence and oral health.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Manu Raj
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tsakos
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Millett
authors.affiliation: Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014070:Tooth / Q000473:pathology*; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; PUBLIC HEALTH; SOCIAL MEDICINE