Saadeh Rami, Cappelli David, Bober-Moken Irene, Cothron Annaliese, de la Torre Magda
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar-Ramtha, Jordan.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Eur J Dent. 2020 Jul;14(3):371-379. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1710400. Epub 2020 May 24.
Refugees encounter several health disparities including oral health problems. This study evaluated the self-reported oral health status, practices, and access to care of adult refugees living in San Antonio, Texas, United States.
Adult refugees ( = 207) who accessed services from two centers in San Antonio, completed this survey. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the relationship of the refugees' demographics with oral health status, practices, and access to care.
Oral pain in the previous 12 months was common among refugees having been reported by almost 58.9% of the survey participants; 43% reported pain as the reason for their last dental visit. Approximately half of the participants reported both the condition to their teeth and gums as being good: 42.5 and 54.6%, respectively. Most participants (84%) reported brushing their teeth one or two times a day, and around 78% reported they never smoked. Fifty-two percent reported needing dental care in the past 12 months, but not being able to receive it; while 45.9% reported not having dental insurance, 41.5% reported not having money to pay a dentist. Fifteen percent reported never visiting a dentist. Arabic speakers, moving to the United States more recently, and lower level of education were associated with a poor oral health status and practices ( < 0.05).
Refugees in this study encountered limited access to dental care. Their inability to seek dental care could affect their oral and general health, weaken efforts of preventing oral health diseases, and restrict their full inclusion into the community.
难民面临多种健康差异，包括口腔健康问题。本研究评估了居住在美国得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的成年难民自我报告的口腔健康状况、习惯以及获得口腔护理的情况。
从圣安东尼奥的两个中心获取服务的成年难民（n = 207）完成了这项调查。采用多因素逻辑回归分析来研究难民的人口统计学特征与口腔健康状况、习惯以及获得口腔护理之间的关系。
近58.9%的调查参与者报告在过去12个月中曾有口腔疼痛；43%报告疼痛是他们上次看牙的原因。约一半的参与者分别报告牙齿和牙龈状况良好：分别为42.5%和54.6%。大多数参与者（84%）报告每天刷牙一到两次，约78%报告从不吸烟。52%报告在过去12个月中需要口腔护理但未能获得；45.9%报告没有牙科保险，41.5%报告没有钱支付看牙医的费用。15%报告从未看过牙医。讲阿拉伯语、最近移民到美国以及教育程度较低与较差的口腔健康状况和习惯相关（P < 0.05）。
本研究中的难民获得口腔护理的机会有限。他们无法寻求口腔护理可能会影响其口腔和整体健康，削弱预防口腔疾病的努力，并限制他们完全融入社区。
