Association between length of time in the US and dental health among foreign-born and US-born Latino youth and young adults

Background: Significant differences in dental health care among youth have been reported across racial/ethnic groups. Few studies have examined the impact of acculturation on oral health among US born and foreign-born Latinos. Purpose: To examine the association between length of time in the US and dental health in a nationally representative sample of Latino youth and young adults. Methods: Data are from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. Eligible respondents (n=8,006) included both US-born and foreign-born Latino youth aged 5 to 17 years. To represent acculturation, respondents were classified by length of time in the US (1-4 years, 5-10 years, 11+ years). Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association between length of residence and oral health measures. All analyses included design effects and weights using Stata. Results: Foreign-born Latino children had poorer teeth condition, more oral health problems, and were less likely to have a routine preventive dental care visits. The acculturation hypothesis was supported for no routine preventive dental visits in the past year and for fair/poor teeth condition among the newest immigrant youth, but was not found to hold for any other measure of oral health. Conclusions: The acculturation hypothesis of diminishing dental health differences between native-born Latinos and foreign-born Latinos with more years spent in the United States was partially supported by this study. Further study is needed to elucidate individual and structural variables associated with need, access, and barriers to oral health care to ensure dental health among Latino youth and young adults.