Dental caries prevalence among a sample of African American adults in New York City.

According to available limited epidemiology studies, the prevalence of oral disease is much greater in American minorities (Blacks, Hisoanics, Asians, Native Americans) than in the majority population. The purpose of this article is to describe the oral health status and current treatment needs of a group of African-American (AA) adults in New York City. The convenience sample consisted of 951 AA adults (M = 662, F = 289) recruited through community- or faith-based institutions, and the in-house screening conducted by the Research Center for Minority Oral Health in dedicated dental clinics at the New York University College of Dentistry. The age of participants ranged from 18 to 64 years, (mean age 42, SD = 11.04). Calibrated examiners performed the clinical examinations utilizing National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) diagnostic criteria. The DMFT, DMFS, DFS, and %D/DFS indices were obtained and results indicated the following. For the 18 to 34 age group (n = 246), the mean DMFT was 8.83, the mean DMFS was 21.36, the mean DFS was 12.10, and the mean %D/DFS was 30. For the 35 to 49 age group (n = 523), the mean DMFT was 14.03, the mean DMFS was 48.21, the mean DFS was 18.76, and the mean %D/DFS was 29. For the 50 to 64 age group (n = 182), the mean DMFT was 15.38, the mean DMFS was 64.48, the mean DFS was 17.98, and the mean %D/DFS was 29. For all age groups, the findings indicated a high prevalence of dental decay and greater number of filled surfaces compared with the United States national surveys.