The Association of Socioeconomic Status and Dental Caries Experience in Children in Dili, Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the world. The aim of this article was to investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and dental caries experience in children living in Dili. Four out of 6 Dili subdistricts and 40 schools were randomly selected. Equal numbers of school children from 4 age groups (6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17 years) were invited to participate. Data were gathered via a questionnaire and an oral examination by dental practitioners. In bivariate analysis, decayed, missing, and filled teeth index for deciduous + permanent teeth (dmft) was higher in children from mid- to high-SES than low-SES schools (1.1, 2.2, P = .001). With age, having had a toothache and dental visiting in the past 12 months in the multivariable model, higher dmft was found in children from mid- to high- to low-SES schools ( P < .001). The primary dental caries experience was greater among children from mid- to high- than low-SES schools, which may be explained by high sugar consumption.
1 University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia.
Lucio Frederico
LF
Babo Soares
2 Rural Clinical School, Burnie, Tasmania, Australia.
Penny
P
Allen
1 University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia.
Silvana
S
Bettiol
1 University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia.|3 University of Adelaide, Australia.
Leonard
L
Crocombe
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D019140:Dental Care for Children; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D049648:Timor-Leste / Q000453:epidemiology
child health; community dentistry/oral health; family medicine; health management; health promotion; inequalities in health; oral health care; population health; public health