Changes in disparities in dental caries experiences in United States adults

Disparities in dental caries experience and other health outcomes have long been reported to exist across age, race, and socioeconomic strata in the United States. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the disparities in the DMFT scores (Decayed, Missing and Filled teeth) among birth cohorts of the different age, race, and socioeconomic U.S. adult population groups changed between National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) and NHANES III.; The study used a cohort analytic method which followed cohorts, tracking changes in dental caries experience over the study period, as an alternative to the cross-sectional comparisons traditionally used to demonstrate disparity changes in caries experience. Data from the NHANES I and NHANES III were used for secondary data analysis.; The disparity between individuals with at least 12 years of education and those with fewer than 12 years of education in the mean number of untreated carious teeth and missing teeth decreased by 42 percent and 72 percent respectively. The disparity in the mean number of filled teeth between individuals with at least 12 years of education and those with fewer than 12 years of education increased by 34 percent.; The disparity between African Americans and whites in the mean number of untreated carious teeth and filled teeth decreased by 56 percent and 15 percent respectively. There was no significant disparity in the mean number of missing teeth between African Americans and whites at NHANES I, but by NHANES III, African Americans had on average 2.22 (p < 0.001) more missing teeth.; Though African Americans had higher percentage increases in DMFT for both levels of education, whites had higher DMFT scores at the time of NHANES I and NHANES III than the African Americans. Overall the effect of education was more significant among whites than among African American during the study period.; In conclusion, there were both reductions and increases in absolute disparities in caries experience among birth cohorts of the different racial and socioeconomic U.S. adult population groups between NHANES I and NHANES III. Depending on the groups being compared some disparities were reduced while others were increased. The study will help in better understanding the distribution of caries experience in the United States population.