Oral Health Status among Migrants from Middle- and Low-Income Countries to Europe: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction. Economic inequality, political instability and globalization have contributed to the constant growth of the migration phenomenon in recent years. In particular, a total of 4.2 million people migrated to Europe during 2019 and most of them settled in Germany, France and Italy. Objectives. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of studies analyzing the oral health condition among migrants from middle- and low-income countries to Europe and assessing the eventual association between their sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics and oral health status. Materials and Methods. A systematic review was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Science Direct databases. After titles, abstracts and full-text examination, only 27 articles were selected on the basis of inclusion criteria and consequently included for quality assessments and data extraction. Results. Most of the studies reported a higher prevalence of caries experience, a poorer periodontal health and more difficulties in accessing dentalcare services among migrant groups compared with the non-migrant population. Inequalities were mostly associated with ethnic background, economic condition and social grade. Conclusion. Our review demonstrates the lack of dental health among migrants, underlining that their cultural beliefs and their social and economic living conditions could influence their oral health.

Burden of infectious diseases among undocumented migrants in France: Results of the Premiers Pas survey

“…The study reports a high prevalence of dental abnormalities and infections, a public health issue that is often neglected in studies of migrant health. A review of studies analyzing the oral health status of migrants from middle-income and low-income countries to Europe reported a high prevalence of caries experience and lack of dental health in the host countries ( 22 ). A recent study has been conducted in France in a health center offering dental consults to migrants ( 23 ).…”

Evaluation and Comparison of Oral Health Status between Spanish and Immigrant Children Residing in Barcelona, Spain

“…Over the years, the literature has shown that the oral health of the immigrant population is worse than that of the native population worldwide [ 17 , 33 ]. Numerous studies [ 4 , 6 , 19 , 22 , 23 , 24 ] have evaluated the oral health of immigrant populations residing in Spain with respect to native populations.…”

Socioeconomic determinants of periodontitis

“…The majority of existing studies on the relationship between socioeconomic status and periodontal disease are cross‐sectional. Between 2005 and 2022, eight review articles were published on this topic: Klinge and Norlund, 4 Boillot et al, 5 Borrell and Crawford, 6 Schuch et al 7 Bastos et al, 8 Singh et al, 9 Tadakamadla et al, 10 and Lauritano et al 11 The review by Boillot et al was a meta‐analysis on 18 studies. The authors found a pooled odds ratio of 1.86 ( P < .001) for the effect of low socioeconomic status on adverse periodontal conditions.…”

“…Another systematic review, by Tadakamadla et al, 10 evaluated the effect of parental socioeconomic indicators (education, income, and occupation) on the periodontal status of children and adolescents. The systematic review by Lauritano et al 11 reviewed studies about the association of socioeconomic status with different aspects of oral health, including periodontal health among migrants from middle‑ and low‐income countries to Europe. All of the aforementioned reviews concluded that low socioeconomic status was associated with an adverse periodontal status.…”