Impact of migration on oral health outcomes of children in multiple-beneficial kindergartens in Nanning, southern China

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of children’s migration on their oral health outcomes in multibeneficial kindergartens in Jiangnan District, Nanning, China, and to provide a basis for improving the oral health of migrant children. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 470 children aged 5 years in Jiangnan District, Nanning, Guangxi. A questionnaire was used to collect information on their demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, migration experience, eating habits, oral hygiene behaviours and utilization of dental care services. Dental caries of primary teeth was examined using the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) index recommended by the World Health Organization. Dental caries experience and oral health-related behaviours were compared between migrant and resident children. The impact of children’s migration attributes on their oral health outcomes was examined by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Among the examined children, 52.3% were migrant children. The prevalence of caries among the children in multibeneficial kindergartens was 78.3%, and the mean number of dmft was 5.73 ± 5.00. The prevalence of caries was 81.7% for migrant children and 74.6% for resident children (p > 0.05). No significant difference was found in the mean numbers of DMFT between migrant children and resident children (5.96 ± 4.81 vs. 5.47 ± 5.20, p > 0.05). There were significant differences in the frequency of tooth brushing and parental help with tooth brushing, typical use of fluoride, regular dental check-ups and experience of dental fillings for caries between migrant and resident children (p < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that among the children with caries, the proportion of resident children who had regular dental check-ups was 1.720 times higher than that of migrant children (95% CI = 1.155 ~ 2.560), and migrant children were more likely to have caries than resident children (OR = 3.313, 95% CI = 1.585 ~ 6.927). Conclusion Migration might be a significant predictive indicator for the poor utilization of dental care services by children in multibeneficial kindergartens in Nanning, China.