Former Incarceration, Time Served, and Perceived Oral Health among African American Women and Men

Ryan D. Talbert () and Emma D. Macy
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Ryan D. Talbert: Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Emma D. Macy: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: A large body of research has documented the far-reaching health consequences of mass incarceration in the United States. Yet, less scholarship has examined the relationship between former incarceration and oral health, a key reflection of health and disease occurring within the rest of the body. Using data extracted from the National Survey of American Life (n = 3343), this study examines associations among former incarceration status, duration of detention, and self-reported oral health among African American women and men. Results from gender-stratified ordered logistic models reveal that formerly incarcerated African American men and women experience significantly poorer oral health than their never incarcerated counterparts even after controlling for important social determinants of health. Furthermore, oral health is curvilinearly associated with the length of time that men are incarcerated such that odds of poor health decrease as detention duration increases up to approximately 15 years incarcerated. After 15 years of detainment, the odds of poor health tend to increase as duration increases. Findings extend research identifying gendered spillover health consequences of contact with the criminal legal system. Health professionals and policymakers should be conscious of incarceration as an important deleterious experience for the immediate and long-term condition of people’s teeth, mouth, and gums.

Keywords: incarceration; prison term; oral health; African Americans; gender; teeth; gums (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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