title: Oral health status of children in Los Angeles County and in the United States, 1999-2004.
abstract: To ascertain and compare the oral health status and related sociodemographic risk indicators in children in Los Angeles (LA) County with children in the United States.
  
  
  
  Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004 were used to calculate prevalence estimates for children aged 2-13 years living in LA County and in the United States. Sociodemographic indicators were evaluated using multiple logistic regression modeling.
  
  
  
  Overall, children in LA County were more likely to experience dental caries than children in the United States in 1999-2004. In the primary dentition, nearly 40% of preschool children residing in LA County had dental caries compared to 28% of same-age children in the United States. Among children aged 6-13, 44% living in LA County had dental caries in the permanent dentition compared to 27% in the United States. Mexican American children in LA County had higher caries experience in permanent teeth (but not in primary teeth) than US Mexican American children. Among children aged 6-9 years, there was no difference in the prevalence of dental sealants in permanent teeth between those living in LA County and in the United States. However, among children aged 10-13 years, dental sealants were more than twice as prevalent in US children (40.8%) than in LA County children (17.5%). Among LA County children, the adjusted odds of having caries experience or untreated dental caries in permanent teeth were not higher among children from lower income families than in lower income children in the United States.
  
  
  
  Children residing in LA County had less favorable oral health than children in the United States in 1999-2004. The usual sociodemographic caries risk indicators identified among children in the United States were not consistently observed among children in LA County. Unlike in the wider United States, poverty was not a risk indicator for dental caries in older children in LA County.
authors.affiliation: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Dye
authors.affiliation: Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Clemencia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Cheryl D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Fryar
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramos-Gomez
authors.affiliation: California Department of Health Care Services, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Isman
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009909:Oral Health; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants
keywords: Los Angeles County; NHANES; dental caries; dental public health; dental sealants; epidemiology; oral health