The Oral Health of Preschool Children of Refugee and Immigrant Families in Manitoba
Abstract
Children of newcomers to Canada are at a moderate to high risk for developing early childhood caries (ECC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the oral health of preschool children of refugee and immigrant families in Winnipeg. We recruited 211 children. Overall, 45.5% of the children had ECC and 31.8% had severe ECC (S-ECC). Infant dental enucleation was observed in 6 children. Things that we associate with severity of oral health conditions were increasing age, the presence of debris on teeth, parents believing their child has dental problems and the presence of enamel hypoplasia. Overall, ECC is prevalent in children of newcomer families in Manitoba. These data will inform advocacy efforts to improve access to dental care and tailor early childhood oral health promotion and ECC prevention activities for refugees and recent immigrants.
Notes
Key populations
Immigrant children
Location
Winnipeg, Mannitoba
Key recommendations
Raising awareness of the importance of oral health among newcomers and service providers caring for them.
Oral health promotion activities must be tailored to each group of newcomers to ensure they are culturally appropriate and effective.
Key findings
ECC (early childhood caries) is prevalent in newcomer preschool children in Winnipeg, affecting 45.5% of our study participants.
Unawareness of newcomer families that they can access publicly funded dental care.
Children from Western Pacific countries (e.g., Philippines, China, Vietnam) had significantly higher caries scores than children from Africa.
Older children were more likely to have ECC.
A unique finding among our group of newcomer children was the observation of infant dental mutilation, which has been reported in children from East Africa.
Integration timeline
At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?
NA
Gaps identified
Newcomers face unique challenges, including maintaining health and accessing health services, as a result of many factors, such as language barriers, cultural differences, lack of awareness, limited family finances and restrictive government policy.
Community organizations
Newcomer settlement agency sites, community dental clinics and Healthy Start for Mom & Me locations in the Winnipeg region
Open-access – Yes
https://jcda.ca/sites/default/files/h9.pdf