Oral health disparities in children of immigrants: dental caries experience at enrollment and during follow-up in the New England Children's Amalgam Trial.

OBJECTIVES: Previous research shows increased dental decay among immigrants, but little is known about the oral health of the growing population of children of immigrants. We compared the children of immigrants to the children of US-born caregivers in their caries experience at enrollment and their new caries increments during the 5-year New England Children's Amalgam Trial (NECAT).
METHODS: NECAT recruited 283 Boston-area children aged 6 to 10 with untreated caries and offered free semiannual preventive and restorative dental care during the trial. Sociodemographic factors and caregiver immigrant status were assessed through interviews. Multivariate negative binomial models evaluated the association between caregiver immigrant status and clinically assessed carious surfaces.
RESULTS: Forty percent of these Boston-area children had immigrant caregivers. At baseline, the children of immigrants had more carious surfaces (11.5 versus 9.4, adjusted for race/ethnicity, age, gender, and caregiver smoking status). Caregiver language preference explained some of this association. Immigrant status and language preference were not associated with 5-year caries increments.
CONCLUSIONS: Prevalent disparities in the unmet dental needs of the immigrants' children were quickly ameliorated during participation in NECAT Dental initiatives that target neighborhoods and are sensitive to acculturation levels may help improve and maintain the oral health of immigrant families.