Ethnic inequalities in functional dentition among British adults.

Abstract

Abstract Ethnic inequalities in functional dentition among British adults.

Background:

There is evidence of ethnic inequality in tooth loss in England, and in East London, socioeconomic factors and area deprivation are possible contributors to ethnic inequality.

The rationale for the Project:

Identifying which factors play a more significant role in shaping oral health inequalities by ethnicity is fundamental to inform the development of social and health policy that can best be implemented to improve equity efforts and decrease disease burden.

Aims and Objectives :

The aim of this study is to explore the role of socioeconomic factors, area deprivation, and behaviors in explaining ethnic differences in functional dentition among English adults.

Method This project will be based on a secondary analysis of data from the East London Oral Health Inequality (ELOHI) Study, which included adults 16 to 65 years old living in Outer North East London (Waltham Forest, Redbridge, and Barking and Dagenham boroughs) in 2009-2010. A representative sample was recruited using multi-stage stratified random sampling. The following ten ethnic groups will be included: White British, East European, and Other; Black African, Caribbean, and Other; Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, and Asian Other. Participants reported their demographic characteristics (sex and age), socioeconomic conditions (education and NS-SEC), and dental behaviors (sugar intake, smoking, toothbrushing, and dental attendance). The Index measured area deprivation for Multiple Deprivation in 2007. Posterior and anterior occluding pairs were counted during clinical examinations. Functional dentition will be defined as having all six anterior plus at least four posterior contacts. Analyses will incorporate sampling weights and survey features. Associations will be tested using logistic regression. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method (Rahimi and Hashemi Nazari, 2021) will be used to quantify the contribution of each factor to ethnic inequalities.

Results: Based on the logistic regression output, ethnic inequalities in functional dentition has significant outcome in the unadjusted model. Asian Pakistanis had 2.01 (95% CI: 1.18, 3.43) times greater odds of having a functional dentition. After adjusting for other variables, we found that black Africans have a 52% less chance of having functional dentition than white British, taking into account other variables. In addition, each additional year of age has resulted in 5% fewer chances of having a functional dentition confidence interval of 95% (0.94, 0.97). The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition output indicates that education and age play a significant role in its findings.

Conclusion : The study in East London examined the link between ethnicity and functional dentition. It discovered that certain factors like age and education can help explain their link. It also learned that black individuals are less likely to have functional dentition than their white counterparts. Pakistani adults are reportedly prone to functional detention, unlike British citizens. More research is required to pinpoint the environmental elements contributing to oral health disparities and their development.