Dental health and dental health behaviour in 8-year-old Finnish immigrant children in the north of Sweden.

The aim was to investigate whether the observed difference in dental health between Finnish immigrant children and Swedish children at ages 4-6 persisted at the age of eight. The study also included knowledge of dental health and dental health behaviour. Dmft, dmfs, DMFT, DMFS and GBI were recorded in 70 Finnish and 97 Swedish children included in an earlier study. The children were interviewed about toothbrushing frequency, use of fluoride and dietary habits. Questions about knowledge of dental health were included. Dmfs and DFS averaged 13.1 and 3.8 for the Finnish children and 8.9 and 2.6 for the Swedish. Only 19% of the Finnish and 28% of the Swedish children had cariesfree permanent teeth. The mean GBI was 7.9% in the Finnish and 5.9% in the Swedish group. More Finnish children had bad or poor dietary habits, with more frequent between-meal eating of sucrose containing products than the Swedish children. There were no statistically significant differences in the use of fluorides or in individual prophylaxis within the last 36 months.