Objective: This symposium presentation compares the oral and general health status of Indigenous Australian adults involved in the PerioCardio study, a third of which were incarcerated at the time of recruitment. Comparisons will be used to discuss how current legislation and policies in the NT may unequally impact Indigenous Australians.
Method: When enrolled, participants had moderate/severe periodontal disease as defined by the Centres for Disease Control & Prevention/American Academy of Periodontology definition. Oral assessments additionally obtained information relating to DMFT and non-invasive cardiovascular assessments measured carotid artery intima-media thickness [IMT] (arterial structure) and carotid-dorsalis pedis pulse wave velocity [PWV] (central arterial function). Comparisons of incarcerated versus non-incarcerated participants were conducted using parametric and non-parametric methods.
Result: 273 participants were recruited; 96 of which were incarcerated (male = 93 [96.9%]) while the 177 non-incarcerated study participants consisted of 65 males [36.7%], P<0.001. Incarcerated participants were significantly younger [mean (SD) 35.6 (7.4) years] compared to those non-incarcerated [42.6 (10.7) years], P<0.001. Although number of teeth with untreated caries did not vary among incarcerated compared to non-incarcerated, prison-stratified analysis showed that participants from Darwin’s prison had almost twice [4.0 (3.8)] the mean number of teeth with caries compared to Alice Springs [2.1 (2.4)], P=0.004. Despite the younger age, incarcerated study participants had a greater extent of periodontal pocketing of ≥4mm: 17.6% (14.1) versus 12.0% (13.3), P=0.001; but equivalent PWV: 8.3 (1.1) m/s versus 8.4 (1.3) m/s, P=0.845; and IMT 0.77 mm (0.13) versus 0.78 mm (0.17), P=0.909.
Conclusion: In this disadvantaged population, a difference in access to dental services between prisons may exist. Vascular health of imprisoned participants was comparable despite being significantly younger.