Community Dental Health

cover art

Cover Date:
June 2009
Print ISSN:
0265 539X
Vol:
26
Issue:
2

Deprivation and access to dental care in a socially diverse metropolitan area

Background: Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England have a responsibility to ensure that the oral health needs of their residents are addressed. This will involve monitoring the uptake of primary dental care and developing services to address local needs and demands. Objective: To examine the relationship between dental registration, age, gender and deprivation at ward and borough level within a socially diverse metropolitan area. Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional ecological study was conducted using ward level registration data for residents of south east London from the Dental Practice Board, population data from the Office of National Statistics and the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Registration rates were calculated at ward level for the population as a whole and for specific age bands. The correlation with deprivation was examined using Pearson’s correlation co-efficient and the data mapped. Results: Registration varied by gender (40% females registered compared with 35% males) and age (children aged 6-12 years (62%) were most likely to be registered and 0-2 year-olds least likely (11%). There was a strong negative correlation between deprivation (IMD) and registration in the 0-5 year (r=-0.82; p<001) and 6-17 year (r=-0.81; p<0.001) age-bands across the sector and similarly within each borough. The negative correlation was most marked in the most affluent borough (r=-0.87; p<0.001). Conclusion: Analysis of registration for dental care across a socially diverse area reveals a strong negative correlation between NHS service uptake and deprivation status amongst children only. Inequalities in service utilisation by children were most marked within affluent boroughs, compared with deprived boroughs.

Keywords: Access, dental caries, social deprivation

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
92
Page End
98
Authors
J.E. Gallagher, D.J. Cooper, D. Wright

Articles from this issue

  • Title
  • Pg. Start
  • Pg. End

  1. Editorial - NHS dental care and the issues of public service ethos, governance, accountability and probity
  2. 66
  3. 68

  1. Racial and ethnic differences in a regular source of dental care and the oral health, behaviors, beliefs and services of lowincome mothers
  2. 69
  3. 76

  1. Association of urgent dental care with subjective oral health indicators and psychosocial impact
  2. 77
  3. 83

  1. The use of conversation mapping to frame key perceptual issues facing the general dental practice system in England.
  2. 84
  3. 91

  1. Deprivation and access to dental care in a socially diverse metropolitan area
  2. 92
  3. 98

  1. Seroepidemiology of hepatitis C antibodies among dentists and their self-reported use of infection control measures
  2. 99
  3. 103

  1. Relationships between patient characteristics and reasons for tooth extraction in Japan
  2. 104
  3. 109

  1. Differences in oral health behaviour between children from high and children from low SES schools in the Netherlands.
  2. 110
  3. 115

  1. Caries prevalence in Suriname schoolchildren
  2. 116
  3. 120

  1. Early childhood caries and related risk factors in Mongolian children
  2. 121
  3. 128