title: Inequalities in dental caries among 12-year-old Chinese children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore whether there are socioeconomic, ethnic, and geographical inequalities in dental caries among 12-year-old Chinese children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 2,307 12-year-old children living in Guangxi, Hubei, Jilin, and Shanxi and who participated in the Third National Oral Health Survey in China were used for this study. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and clinical examinations with children. The decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) index and number of decayed teeth (DT) were the outcome measures for analysis. Inequalities in DMFT and DT by socioeconomic position (parental education), ethnicity, and geography (province of residence and urbanicity) were assessed in unadjusted and adjusted negative binomial regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ethnicity and geographical factors, but not parental education, were significantly associated with childhood dental caries in unadjusted models. However, only geographical factors remained significantly related to dental caries after mutual adjustments. The DMFT index and DT were higher among children living in Jilin and Guangxi than those of children living in Hubei and Shanxi, and also higher among children living in rural areas than in those living in urban areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This analysis shows inequalities in dental caries among 12-year-old children in four provinces of China. There were considerable inequalities in children's DMFT and number of decayed teeth by geography but not by ethnicity or parental education.
authors.affiliation: Division of Population and Patient Health, King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College, and St. Thomas' Hospitals, London, UK.
authors.forename: Anqi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Stomatology Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dentistry, Stomatology College, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dentistry, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Baojun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dentistry, Stomatological Hospital, Xi'an JiaoTong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Ruizhe
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Division of Population and Patient Health, King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's College, and St. Thomas' Hospitals, London, UK.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bernabé
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: child; dental caries; ethnic groups; geography; socioeconomic factors; urbanization