ANNALS OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, 1976, VOL. 3, NO. 2, 187-188
SHORT
REPORTS
Prevalence of dental caries of Chinese in Liverpool
Ann Hum Biol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 10/29/14 For personal use only.
D. H. G O O S E and G. T. R. L E E
School of Dental Surgery, University of Liverpool
[Received 24 December 1974; revised 16 July 1975] Summary. The dental caries prevalence of adult Chinese immigrants in the Liverpool area is considerably lower than that of the native British. This is in contrast to Chinese children born in the U.K. who appear to have a higher prevalence compared to the same age group of British children. 1. Introduction Varley and Goose (1971) reported a tendency for Chinese children born in the Liverpool area of the U.K. to have a higher dental caries prevalence than that of the native British children, and this accords with similar findings in Hawaii by Chung, Runck, Niswander, Bilben and Kau (1970), who stated that children of Oriental or Hawaiian parents had, in general, higher D.M.F. (teeth which are decayed, missing or filled) scores than children of European descent. Since in the past it has been assumed that Asians had a lower dental caries rate, these findings were somewhat puzzling and so we resolved to examine some Chinese parents who had been born in Asia but were now living in the U.K. 2. Subjects and methods Recently Lee and Goose (1972), in a genetic study, reported on a sample of Chinese families in the Liverpool area and these have been used as a basis for this investigation. A certain amount of bias will have resulted from this since those with only a few, or no teeth were excluded from the sample. However, only 60 individuals out of 250 were rejected, some of these owing to lack of suitable children rather than parents. Even if one assumes that all these husbands and wives were totally edentulous the appropriate figures would only rise by about 4. 3. Results The table shows the values of the D.M.F. scores for 85 male and 69 female Chinese. Along with these are shown corresponding data for the U.K. taken from the 'Adult Dental Health Survey in England and Wales' (Gray, Todd, Slack and Bulman, 1970). The figures for the Chinese are considerably lower in all groups, confirming previous work on Asians living in their own countries (Bibby 1970). Presumably the lower caries rate in the Chinese parents was due to their not having been exposed to a western diet in childhood.
Short R e p o r t s Age
Decayed, missing and filled teeth Male
Ann Hum Biol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 10/29/14 For personal use only.
25-34
Female
Chinese
Native British
Chinese
Native British
10-0
17'4
9"0
19"6
35-44
12-9
19.0
13-4
20" 1
45-54
14.4
21"4
12'4
22"1
Comparison of decayed, missing and filled teeth between Chinese in Liverpool and British (Adult Dental Health Survey, Gray et al., 1970).
References Bibby, B. G. (1970). Inferences from natural occurring variations in caries prevalence. Journal of Dental Research, 49, Suppl. 1194-1199. Chung, C. S., Runck, D. W., Niswander, J. D., Bilben, S. E., and Kau, M. C. W. (1970). Genetic and epidemiologic studies of oral characteristics in Hawaiian schoolchildren. Journal of Dental Research, 49, 1374-1385. Gray, P. G., Todd, J. E., Slack, G. L., and Bulman, J. S. (1970). Adult Dental Health in England and Wales. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Lee, G. T. R., and Goose, D. H. (1972). Inheritance of dental traits in a Chinese population in the U.K. Journal o/ Medical Genetics, 9, 336-339. Varley, T. F., and Goose, D. H. (1971). Dental caries in children of immigrants in Liverpool. British Dental Journal, 130, 27-29. Address correspondence to: Dr. D. H. Goose, School of Dental Surgery, University of Liverpool, Pembroke Place, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX. Zusammengassung. Die Verbreitung der Zahnkaries bei erwachsenen chinesischen Einwanderem in der Gegend von Liverpool ist wesentlich geringer als bei den einheimischen Engl~indern. Dies steht im Gegensatz dazu, dass chinesische Kinder, die in Grossbritannien geboren wurden, eine hi, here Kariesfrequenz aufweisen als die entsprechenden Altersgruppen einheimischer Kinder. REsumE. La frEquence de la carte dentaire est considErablement plus basse chez les imigrants chinois adultes de la region de Liverpool que chez les Britanniques indig~nes. Ceci contraste avec la frEquence apparamment plus ElevEe chez les enfants chinois nEs au Royaume-Uni que chez les enfants britanniques de mSme age.
SHORT
REPORTS
Prevalence of dental caries of Chinese in Liverpool
Ann Hum Biol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 10/29/14 For personal use only.
D. H. G O O S E and G. T. R. L E E
School of Dental Surgery, University of Liverpool
[Received 24 December 1974; revised 16 July 1975] Summary. The dental caries prevalence of adult Chinese immigrants in the Liverpool area is considerably lower than that of the native British. This is in contrast to Chinese children born in the U.K. who appear to have a higher prevalence compared to the same age group of British children. 1. Introduction Varley and Goose (1971) reported a tendency for Chinese children born in the Liverpool area of the U.K. to have a higher dental caries prevalence than that of the native British children, and this accords with similar findings in Hawaii by Chung, Runck, Niswander, Bilben and Kau (1970), who stated that children of Oriental or Hawaiian parents had, in general, higher D.M.F. (teeth which are decayed, missing or filled) scores than children of European descent. Since in the past it has been assumed that Asians had a lower dental caries rate, these findings were somewhat puzzling and so we resolved to examine some Chinese parents who had been born in Asia but were now living in the U.K. 2. Subjects and methods Recently Lee and Goose (1972), in a genetic study, reported on a sample of Chinese families in the Liverpool area and these have been used as a basis for this investigation. A certain amount of bias will have resulted from this since those with only a few, or no teeth were excluded from the sample. However, only 60 individuals out of 250 were rejected, some of these owing to lack of suitable children rather than parents. Even if one assumes that all these husbands and wives were totally edentulous the appropriate figures would only rise by about 4. 3. Results The table shows the values of the D.M.F. scores for 85 male and 69 female Chinese. Along with these are shown corresponding data for the U.K. taken from the 'Adult Dental Health Survey in England and Wales' (Gray, Todd, Slack and Bulman, 1970). The figures for the Chinese are considerably lower in all groups, confirming previous work on Asians living in their own countries (Bibby 1970). Presumably the lower caries rate in the Chinese parents was due to their not having been exposed to a western diet in childhood.
Short R e p o r t s Age
Decayed, missing and filled teeth Male
Ann Hum Biol Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by University of Melbourne on 10/29/14 For personal use only.
25-34
Female
Chinese
Native British
Chinese
Native British
10-0
17'4
9"0
19"6
35-44
12-9
19.0
13-4
20" 1
45-54
14.4
21"4
12'4
22"1
Comparison of decayed, missing and filled teeth between Chinese in Liverpool and British (Adult Dental Health Survey, Gray et al., 1970).
References Bibby, B. G. (1970). Inferences from natural occurring variations in caries prevalence. Journal of Dental Research, 49, Suppl. 1194-1199. Chung, C. S., Runck, D. W., Niswander, J. D., Bilben, S. E., and Kau, M. C. W. (1970). Genetic and epidemiologic studies of oral characteristics in Hawaiian schoolchildren. Journal of Dental Research, 49, 1374-1385. Gray, P. G., Todd, J. E., Slack, G. L., and Bulman, J. S. (1970). Adult Dental Health in England and Wales. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Lee, G. T. R., and Goose, D. H. (1972). Inheritance of dental traits in a Chinese population in the U.K. Journal o/ Medical Genetics, 9, 336-339. Varley, T. F., and Goose, D. H. (1971). Dental caries in children of immigrants in Liverpool. British Dental Journal, 130, 27-29. Address correspondence to: Dr. D. H. Goose, School of Dental Surgery, University of Liverpool, Pembroke Place, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX. Zusammengassung. Die Verbreitung der Zahnkaries bei erwachsenen chinesischen Einwanderem in der Gegend von Liverpool ist wesentlich geringer als bei den einheimischen Engl~indern. Dies steht im Gegensatz dazu, dass chinesische Kinder, die in Grossbritannien geboren wurden, eine hi, here Kariesfrequenz aufweisen als die entsprechenden Altersgruppen einheimischer Kinder. REsumE. La frEquence de la carte dentaire est considErablement plus basse chez les imigrants chinois adultes de la region de Liverpool que chez les Britanniques indig~nes. Ceci contraste avec la frEquence apparamment plus ElevEe chez les enfants chinois nEs au Royaume-Uni que chez les enfants britanniques de mSme age.
