Given the increased influx of refugees into the United States, particularly children, it is important for the pediatric community to be aware of potential oral health problems among refugee children. A study by Cote, et al published in Pediatrics describes the prevalence of caries experience and untreated decay among newly arrived refugee children stratified by their region of origin and compared with US children. The study found that African refugee children had significantly lower dental caries experience as well as fewer untreated caries as compared with similarly aged Eastern European refugee children. They were also less likely to have ever been to a dentist. When refugee children were compared with US children, the African refugee children had only half the caries experience of either white or African American children. However, African refugee children had similar likelihood of having untreated caries as compared with African American children, despite that very few African children had previous access to professional dental care. White refugee children, primarily from Eastern Europe, were 3 times as likely to have caries experience compared with either white or African American children and were 9.4 times as likely to have untreated caries as white US children. Refugee children are more likely to establish primary medical care before seeking dental treatment. With the limited access to dental care among refugees, pediatricians should be particularly alert to the risk of oral diseases among refugee children.
(Source: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Dec. 16, 2004)
