June 2016

Child oral health in migrant families: A cross-sectional study of caries in 1-4 year old children from migrant backgrounds residing in Melbourne, Australia L. Gibbs, A.M. de Silva, B. Christian, Gold, L, M. Gussy, L. Moore, H. Calache, D. Young, E. Riggs, M. Tadic, R. Watt, I. Gondal and E. Waters Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is the most common, preventable disease of childhood. It can affect children’s health and wellbeing and children from migrant families may be at greater risk of developing ECC. Objective: To describe ECC in children from migrant families, and explore possible influences. Basic research design: Cross-sectional analysis of caries data collected as baseline data for an oral health promotion study. Participants: The analysis sample included 630 1-4 year-old children clustered within 481 Iraqi, Lebanese and Pakistani families in Melbourne, Australia. Method: Child participants received a community-based visual dental examination. Parents completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographics, ethnicity, and oral health knowledge, behaviour and attitudes. Main outcome measure: Child caries experience. Bivariate associations between oral health behaviours and ethnicity were tested for significance using chi-square. Key words: oral health, dental caries, dental decay, child, pre-school, migrants, Australia