Gender Differences in Caries and Periodontal Status in UK Children

BackgroundGender inequalities in dental caries and periodontal diseases have been observed among adults. However, literature is scarce for children and evidence on gender inequalities regarding caries and/or periodontal diseases is vague. Our aim is to examine potential gender differences in UK children regarding caries experience and periodontal status using data from the UKs 2013 Childrens Dental Health Survey (CDHS). MethodsCDHS included children aged 5, 8, 12 and 15 years. Their dental caries experience and periodontal status were reported using the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT or dmft for permanent or primary dentition at both D1 and D3 thresholds) and the basic periodontal examination (BPE) score, respectively. Zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) models were used to fit DMFT/dmft and a multinomial logistic regression (MLR) model was used for BPE scores after adjustment for possible confounding factors, to assess the gender inequality on DMFT/dmft and BPE in the UK children. ResultsThe analyses included 9,866 children. No gender inequalities in caries experience were observed in the 5 and 8-year-old children regardless of the threshold at which dental caries were examined. However, for the 12- and 15-year-old adolescents, females had higher D3MFT scores compared to males (IRR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.10-1.49 and IRR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.00-1.35, respectively). Additionally, the 15-year-old females had lower probability to be caries free (OR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.45-0.82), regardless of the threshold at which dental caries were examined. With regards to the periodontal status, no statistically significant gender inequalities (p>0.05) were observed. ConclusionsIn the UK, female adolescents had experienced more carious lesions compared to males of the same age group, when dental caries were examined into dentine (D3MFT). However, 15-year-old males matched females in their caries experience, when the early enamel lesions were included in caries diagnosis (D1MFT). With regard to the periodontal status, no gender dissimilarity was confirmed among British adolescents. The increased risk of adolescent females to dental caries may signify additional needs for prevention and improved oral care.