Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 May 9:14:51.
doi: 10.1186/1472-6831-14-51.

Migration background is associated with caries in Viennese school children, even if parents have received a higher education

Barbara Cvikl, Gertraud Haubenberger-Praml, Petra Drabo, Michael Hagmann, Reinhard Gruber  1 , Andreas Moritz, Andrea Nell
Affiliations

Migration background is associated with caries in Viennese school children, even if parents have received a higher education

Barbara Cvikl et al. BMC Oral Health. .

Abstract

Background: A low level of education and the migration background of parents are associated with the development of caries in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a higher educational level of parents can overcome risks for the development of caries in immigrants in Vienna, Austria.

Methods: The educational level of the parents, the school type, and the caries status of 736 randomly selected twelve-year-old children with and without migration background was determined in this cross sectional study. In children attending school in Vienna the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index was determined. For statistical analysis, a mixed negative-binomial-model was used.

Results: The caries status of the children with migration background was significantly worse compared to that of the native Viennese population. A significant interaction was found between migration background and the educational level of the parents (p = 0.045). No interaction was found between the school type and either the migration background (p = 0.220) or the education level of the parents (p = 0.08). In parents with a higher scholarly education level, migration background (p < 0.01) and school type (p = 0.018) showed an association with DMFT values. In parents with a low education level, however, migration background and school type had no significant association with DMFT values.

Conclusion: These data indicate that children with a migration background are at higher risk to acquire caries than other Viennese children, even when the parents have received a higher education.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Petersen PE, Bourgeois D, Ogawa H, Estupinan-Day S, Ndiaye C. The global burden of oral diseases and risks to oral health. Bull World Health Organ. 2005;83(9):661–669. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Young DA, Lyon L, Azevedo S. The role of dental hygiene in caries management: a new paradigm. J Dent Hyg. 2010;84(3):121–129. - PubMed
    1. Petersen PE. The World Oral Health Report 2003: continuous improvement of oral health in the 21st century–the approach of the WHO Global Oral Health Programme. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003;31(Suppl 1):3–23. - PubMed
    1. Selwitz RH, Ismail AI, Pitts NB. Dental caries. Lancet. 2007;369(9555):51–59. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60031-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Armfield JM. Community effectiveness of public water fluoridation in reducing children's dental disease. Public Health Rep. 2010;125(5):655–664. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types