Inequalities in Caries Experience Among Mongolian Children

Tselmuun Chinzorig, Jun Aida, Upul Cooray, Tsengelsaikhan Nyamdorj, Soyolmaa Mashbaljir, Ken Osaka and Ariuntuul Garidkhuu
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Tselmuun Chinzorig: Department of International and Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-0872, Japan
Jun Aida: Department of International and Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-0872, Japan
Upul Cooray: Department of International and Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-0872, Japan
Tsengelsaikhan Nyamdorj: Graduate School, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 14210, Mongolia
Soyolmaa Mashbaljir: Graduate School, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 14210, Mongolia
Ken Osaka: Department of International and Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-0872, Japan
Ariuntuul Garidkhuu: Department of International and Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-0872, Japan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-9

Abstract: Although inequalities in dental caries have been well-reported, there is only one Mongolian study on the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and caries experience, which was published ten years ago. This study aimed to determine the dental health status of Mongolian children living in urban and suburban areas of Ulaanbaatar city and examine its association with income and parental educational attainment. An oral examination was conducted by dentists and caries were measured as deft/DMFT indices. A questionnaire including demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status was completed by their parents or caregiver. Parental educational attainment and household income were used as the measures of SES. The relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) were employed to examine the association between SES on deft and DMFT after adjusting for covariates. Dental caries prevalence (those with deft/DMFT > 0) was 89.3% among the total number of participants. The mean deft/DMFT values for age groups 1–6, 7–12, and 13–18 were 5.83 (SD = 4.37, deft), 5.77 (SD = 3.31, deft/DMFT), and 3.59 (SD = 2.69, DMFT), respectively. Rather than residence area and parental educational attainment, significant caries experience inequality was observed in relation to income (RII 0.65 95%, CI 0.52 to 0.82, SII −2.30, 95% CI −4.16 to −0.45). A prevention strategy for lower socioeconomic groups and building integrated oral health surveillance to monitor epidemiological trends for further evaluation of its progress is necessary.

Keywords: oral health inequality; caries prevalence; socioeconomic status; Mongolia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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