Ethnic Inequalities in the Functional Dentition Among British Adults: A Multilevel Analysis.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the role of socioeconomic factors, area deprivation and behaviours in explaining ethnic differences in the functional dentition among East London adults using multilevel modelling.

METHODS

Data from a community-based health survey in East London included information on 1898 adults aged between 16 to 65 years old and belonging to 9 ethnic groups. Supervised questionnaires gathered information on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic indicators, dental behaviours and area deprivation (IMD 2007). A functional dentition was defined as having all 6 anterior plus at least 4 posterior contacts in clinical examination.

RESULTS

The multilevel logistic regression showed that Black Africans were 75% (95%CI: 1.21-2.52) and Black Caribbean 77% (95%CI: 1.05-2.98) more likely to have a non-functional dentition than White British participants in fully adjusted models. Other factors associated with a non-functional dentition were older age and no educational attainment.

CONCLUSION

Black adults are at greater risk of non-functional dentition independently from sociodemographic characteristics, oral health-related behaviours and area-level characteristics. Proportionate universalism could be effective in reducing these health gaps.