Applying conceptual models to advance understanding of the determinants of health disparities

A consistent theme in oral health research is that there is no sole “silver bullet” to fight the epidemic of early childhood caries, nor for health disparities. Conceptual models abound for public health, but few have been applied in the oral health field. A multilevel conceptual model was developed to expand on the classic Keyes biological model by including the influence of non-biological factors on children's oral health; this model has been adapted to help understand oral health disparities. This presentation will describe contemporary examples of models used to advance understanding of the determinants of health disparities. Next, the benefit of using a conceptual model to guide research will be detailed. Further, we will discuss this model's application to work in oral health disparities in several settings. These include, but will not be limited to, the conceptual model's application to explain: disparities as seen in a national dataset; a regional intervention for a cohort of low-income African-American children and their caregivers; and an ethnographic study of Latino preschool children's oral health.