Analysis of Race and Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Factors, and Tooth Decay Among US Children

Key PointsQuestionWhat factors are associated with racial and ethnic differences in the risk of developing tooth decay among US children? FindingsThis cohort study of 61083 children and adolescents found that compared with White children, all other racial and ethnic groups among those aged 0 to 5 years, Hispanic and Black children among those aged 6 to 10 years, and Black adolescents among those aged 11 to 18 years were at a higher risk of tooth decay. Mediation analysis revealed that individual- and community-level factors, including insurance and dental procedure types, explained most racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of tooth decay. MeaningThese findings suggest that efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in tooth decay should target different individual- and community-level factors, depending on age and racial and ethnic group. This cohort study assesses racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of developing tooth decay and evaluates relative contributions of factors mediating the observed disparities among US children. ImportanceWhile large oral health disparities remain by race and ethnicity among children, the associations of race, ethnicity, and mediating factors with oral health outcomes are poorly characterized. Identifying the pathways that explain these disparities would be critical to inform policies to effectively reduce them. ObjectiveTo measure racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of developing tooth decay and quantify relative contributions of factors mediating the observed disparities among US children. Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis retrospective cohort study used electronic health records of US children from 2014 to 2020 to measure racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of tooth decay. Elastic net regularization was used to select variables to be included in the model among medical conditions, dental procedure types, and individual- and community-level socioeconomic factors. Data were analyzed from January 9 to April 28, 2023. ExposuresRace and ethnicity of children. Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe main outcome was diagnosis of tooth decay in either deciduous or permanent teeth, defined as at least 1 decayed, filled, or missing tooth due to caries. An Anderson-Gill model, a time-to-event model for recurrent tooth decay events with time-varying covariates, stratified by age groups (0-5, 6-10, and 11-18 years) was estimated. A nonlinear multiple additive regression tree-based mediation analysis quantified the relative contributions of factors underlying the observed racial and ethnic disparities. ResultsAmong 61083 children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years at baseline (mean [SD] age, 9.9 [4.6] years; 30773 [50.4%] female), 2654 Black individuals (4.3%), 11213 Hispanic individuals (18.4%), 42815 White individuals (70.1%), and 4401 individuals who identified as another race (eg, American Indian, Asian, and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) (7.2%) were identified. Larger racial and ethnic disparities were observed among children aged 0 to 5 years compared with other age groups (Hispanic children: adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.47; 95% CI, 1.40-1.54; Black children: aHR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.19-1.42; other race children: aHR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.29-1.49), compared with White children. For children aged 6 to 10 years, higher risk of tooth decay was observed for Black children (aHR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.01-1.19) and Hispanic children (aHR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.07-1.18) compared with White children. For adolescents aged 11 to 18 years, a higher risk of tooth decay was observed only in Black adolescents (aHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06-1.30). A mediation analysis revealed that the association of race and ethnicity with time to first tooth decay became negligible, except for Hispanic and children of other race aged 0 to 5 years, suggesting that mediators explained most of the observed disparities. Insurance type explained the largest proportion of the disparity, ranging from 23.4% (95% CI, 19.8%-30.2%) to 78.9% (95% CI, 59.0%-114.1%), followed by dental procedures (receipt of topical fluoride and restorative procedures) and community-level factors (education attainment and Area Deprivation Index). ConclusionsIn this retrospective cohort study, large proportions of disparities in time to first tooth decay associated with race and ethnicity were explained by insurance type and dental procedure types among children and adolescents. These findings can be applied to develop targeted strategies to reduce oral health disparities.