Caries prevalence and caries experience (ICDAS II criteria) of 5-, 12- and 15-year-old Greek children in relation to socio-demographic risk indicators. Trends at the national level in a period of a decade

Dental Caries Prevalence and Experience (ICDAS II Criteria) of 5-, 12- and 15-Year-Old Children and Adolescents with an Immigrant Background in Greece, Compared with the Host Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Epidemiological evidence from studies conducted in Western European countries suggests that, among adults, adolescents and children with an immigrant background, those with Eastern European origin present a higher dental caries prevalence [ 5 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Moreover, native Eastern European children and adolescents present with considerably higher caries levels compared with their Western European peers [ 11 ], an observation that is possibly associated with the privatisation and decentralisation of the oral healthcare delivery system in these territories during the last three decades, which has impeded the provision of dental care services in childhood populations, leading to detrimental effects on disease levels [ 28 ]. For example, 5- and 12-year-old inhabitants of Albania, which is the dominant source country of immigrants in Greece, demonstrated considerably high mean dmft/DMFT values, (4.4 and 3.7, respectively), very low percentages of caries-free children at the cavitation level (16% and 13%, respectively) and very high levels of untreated caries (80% and 70%, respectively) [ 29 , 30 ].…”

“…Special needs education schools were excluded from the sampling procedure. Specifically, the survey took place in public schools located in 24 sampling sites covering three urban municipalities with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, which were selected randomly within each of the two bigger Greek metropolitan regions (Athens, the capital, and Thessaloniki, the co-capital), as well as one urban and one rural district selected randomly within each of six mainland counties and three islands [ 11 , 12 ]. Within each district, three schools, belonging either to the kindergarten, junior high school or high school academic level, were selected randomly, and within each school, samples of subjects attending kindergarten, the first year of junior high school or the first year of high school, respectively, were drawn by random classroom selection.…”

“…In order to explain any differences observed between the native Greek and immigrant groups more adequately, their sociodemographic characteristics (gender, location, parental education level) were compared. It should be noted that the caries indices and sociodemographic characteristics of the Greek 5-, 12- and 15-year-olds are presented and analysed elsewhere [ 11 ]. Moreover, to further explain any discrepancies in caries status observed between the immigrant and host populations, their dental health-related behavioural characteristics, such as their oral hygiene practices, their dietary patterns related to sugar consumption habits (available only for the 5-year-olds), and their oral hygiene levels were compared.…”

“…Higher percentages of 5-and 15-year-old immigrants resided in urban than in rural areas, compared with their host peers (p < 0.001). In all age [11].…”

“…‡ Pearson's chi-square test. The distribution of the Greek 12-and 15-year-olds according to sociodemographic indicators (gender, location and parental education level), toothbrushing frequency and DI-S scores was adapted fromDiamanti et al (2021) [11,12].…”