Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 21, Issue 4, 2019, Pages 693-698

Oral Health Status of Refugee Children in Montreal (Article)

Moreau A.-M. , Hennous F. , Dabbagh B. , Ferraz dos Santos B.*
  • a Division of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Montreal Children’s Hospital, 1040 Atwater Avenue, Montreal, QC H3Z 1X3, Canada
  • b Division of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Montreal Children’s Hospital, 1040 Atwater Avenue, Montreal, QC H3Z 1X3, Canada
  • c Division of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Montreal Children’s Hospital, 1040 Atwater Avenue, Montreal, QC H3Z 1X3, Canada
  • d Division of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Montreal Children’s Hospital, 1040 Atwater Avenue, Montreal, QC H3Z 1X3, Canada

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the oral health status of refugee children in comparison with that of Canadian children. In addition, we investigated the extent to which demographic factors are associated with caries experience in this population. Children with a confirmed refugee status and Canadian children (control group) matched for age and sex composed the study population. A comprehensive review of dental charts was completed to assess children’s demographic data, caries experience, oral hygiene and gingival health status. The majority of refugee children had never seen a dentist before their arrival to Canada. Refugee children had significant higher dmft/DMFT scores than Canadian children (7.29 ± 5.1 and 4.47 ± 5, respectively; p < 0.0001). Furthermore, individual factors, such as refugee status (OR = 5.08; 95% CI = 2.31–11.1) and child age (OR = 2.17; 95% CI = 1.04–4.51) were significantly associated with caries experience. Access to appropriate dental care to refugee children should be a key priority for health care providers and policy makers. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Caries Oral health Children Refugee Canada

Index Keywords

male controlled study gingiva female Canada mouth hygiene health status refugee Canadian demography dental procedure Article human dentist Child
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85056254250&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-018-0835-1&partnerID=40&md5=abfb088b72a9513eec058cb88c3d743b
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-018-0835-1
ISSN: 15571912
Original Language: English