Karies och kariesassocierade faktorer bland svenska 15-åringar med invandrarbakgrund

• Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of caries and caries associated variables in 15-year-olds with a foreign background in relation to Swedish 15-year-olds and to examine differences in the prevalence of caries in immigrant adolescents according to their length of residence in Sweden. Methods: All 15-year-old adolescents (n=143) at one public school in the city of Jönköping, Sweden, were asked to participate in the study. The adolescents were divided into two groups according to their background: immigrants and non-immigrants. The final study cohort comprised 117 adolescents: 51 immigrants and 66 non-immigrants. All participants were interviewed individually in a structed interview on background data, diet, oral hygiene habits and fluor exposure. Data on caries prevalence were extracted from the dental records of the examination made when the participants were 15 years old. Results: Immigrant adolescents had significantly more surfaces affected by enamel and dentine caries than non-immigrants, but the proportions of immigrants and non-immigrants who had symptoms of enamel or dentine caries were equal. Adolescents born in Sweden of immigrant parents or who had arrived before 1 year of age had caries prevalence similar to those of non-immigrant adolescents, whereas children who had immigrated to Sweden after seven years of age had a caries prevalence that was 2–3 times higher. Among immigrant adolescents, compared with non-immigrants, a lower proportion ate breakfast regularly and had a higher intake of snack products, and sucrose intake was positively correlated with caries prevalence among immigrants. There were no statistically significant differences in toothbrushing or flossing frequency or use of fluorides between immigrants and non-immigrants, but immigrant adolescents who brushed their teeth only once a day had more than twice as many proximal surfaces affected by caries as immigrants who brushed twice a day. Conclusion: Caries prevalence is higher in immigrant than in Swedish adolescents, especially in adolescents who immigrated to Sweden. After seven years of age. As caries was mainly restricted to the enamel. Immigrant adolescents had on average more caries associated factors than non-immigrants.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Odontologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Dentistry (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

karies

diet

invandrare

prevention

Paedodontics

Pedodonti

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)