Objective: To compare self-rated oral health and dental visiting patterns between overseas-born and Australian-born populations. Methods: The 2004-2006 National Survey of Adult Oral Health used a three-stage, stratified clustered design to select a sample of the Australian population aged 15 years or more. Data were obtained through computer assisted telephone interviews. This cross-sectional analysis of dentate adults includes 9885 Australian-born (AU), 2023 overseas-born whose primary language is English (OS-English), and 930 overseas-born with another primary language (OS-Other); weights provide nationally representative estimates. Differences were compared using 95% confidence intervals, and their magnitude assessed through multivariate regressions. Results: The three groups were equally likely to have visited a dentist within the last two years (AU:78%, OS-English:78%, OS-Other:79%) and to report usually visiting for a check-up (AU:56%, OS-English:56%, OS-Other:57%). OS-English reported a higher prevalence of avoiding/delaying dental care due to cost (34%, p<0.02) than AU (30%) and OS-Other (31%). This remained higher for OS-English compared to AU after controlling for insurance, sex, age, region, eligibility for public dental care and income (OR: 1.29, 95%CI: 1.12,1.47). Overseas-born were more likely to rate their oral health as "fair or poor" (OS-English:20%, OS-Other:20%) than AU (15%, p<0.001). This difference remained significant after controlling for insurance, sex, age, region, eligibility for public care and education (OS-English OR: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.09,1.51; OS-Other OR: 1.29, 95%CI: 1.04,1.61). Conclusions: Self-rated oral health differs between overseas-born and Australian-born populations despite similarities in dental visiting patterns.
Supported by NHMRC, AIHW, ADA, CDC, Colgate, State and Federal Health Departments.