EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ORAL HEALTH OF MINORITY ADULTS

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The aim of this proposal is to provide a comprehensive description of oral health status of the principle minority groups living in New York City (NYC), and to relate their disease levels to putative explanatory factors. The prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease is largely unknown for many racial and ethnic minority sub-groups, because they are either absent or under-represented in national surveys. The 1990 census for NYC indicated that 43.2% of its residents are white; a 14.6% decline in a decade that saw a modest growth in overall population. This demographic shift to a city of minorities is largely due to increased levels of immigration throughout the 1970's and 80's from Asian, Caribbean and Latin American countries. Along with the already established African-American and Puerto Rican populations, these newer groups are changing the population profile of NYC, other eastern seaboard cities and, to varying degrees, the cities of the United States. Emphasis will be placed on the largest minority groups in NYC from each of three racial minorities. Community-dwelling adult volunteers (ages 18-65) will be recruited from the Chinese, Indian, African-American, Caribbean Black Non-Hispanic, Dominican, and Puerto Rican neighborhoods in NYC. A stratified sample design will ensure equitable distribution of gender and three age groupings. Along with clinical data from comprehensive oral exams, we will collect detailed nutritional, demographic, cultural/behavioral, dental awareness and utilization data. In conjunction with other studies in this Center, biological factors will be assessed by means of microbial, salivary and plaque samples from each subject and correlated with clinical disease measures. The hypothesis, derived from our ongoing study, is that the oral health status of minority groups differs, in varying degrees, from that of the mostly white majority. This study will examine the extent to which these observed differences can be related to measures of putative explanatory factors of disease. In addition, continued training and exposure of the NYUCD faculty arid students in the area of epidemiological research will continue and expand into areas of nutrition, behavior, and collection of biological samples.