Dental health of recent immigrant children in the newcomer schools, San Francisco

Dental screenings of 1012 recent immigrant elementary school children in San Francisco showed 77% of children needed dental treatment on first screening, compared to 25% in the 1979-80 National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) survey for the western United States. The prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth of the immigrant 6 and 7 year-old was twice that of their US counterparts. Non-refugee immigrants had more serious dental needs but used dental services less often than children with refugee status. (Original abstract)