Objectives To examine racial/ethnic disparities in oral health among older Americans. Methods Differences in frequency of edentulism and number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth were assessed in 2,679 non-Hispanic white, 742 non-Hispanic black, and 934 Mexican-American individuals aged 60 and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2004). Results Controlling for potential confounding variables, blacks and Mexican-Americans had significantly higher numbers of decayed teeth but fewer numbers of filled teeth than whites. Although blacks had a lower likelihood of being edentulous than whites, dentate blacks had a higher number of missing teeth. Compared with whites, Mexican-Americans were less likely to be edentulous, and dentate Mexican-Americans had fewer missing teeth. Our study also showed that blacks and Mexican-Americans had less frequent dental checkups than whites. Conclusions Oral health disparities are persistent across racial/ethnic groups for older Americans despite the fact that the differences between groups typically diminish when socioeconomic, health-related, and behavioral factors are considered in the models. Our study suggests that reducing racial/ethnic oral health disparities requires multiple clinical approaches.

Objectives To compare differences in self-rated oral health among community-dwelling Black, Hispanic, and White adults aged 60 and older. Method A total of 4,859 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2004) provided self-report information on oral health. Results Blacks and Hispanics reported poorer self-rated oral health than Whites. In separate dentate and edentulous groups, socioeconomic status, social support, physical health, clinical oral health outcomes, and dental checkups accounted for much of the difference in self-rated oral health in Blacks, but significant differences remained for Hispanics. Discussion The study findings may have important implications for health policy and program development. Programs and services designed for minority populations should target treatments for dental diseases and include components that take into account subjective evaluations of oral health conditions and perceived dental needs of the individuals.

Whether humoral immunity plays a role in HPV type 6 or 11 virus-mediated Juvenile-onset Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (JORRP) remains unknown. In the present study, serum total IgG level in 44 JORRP patients was significantly decreased compared with that in 40 healthy controls. Moreover, expanded CD3−CD19+ B cells with down-regulation of CD23, CD40, HLA-DR and up-regulation of CD86 expression were found in the peripheral blood of JORRP patients. Flow cytometry analysis of B-cell compartment showed that the frequency of both CD19+CD27hi plasma cells and CD19+CD27+ memory B cells were decreased in JORRP patients. Importantly, although the proportion of circulating CXCR5+PD1hi Tfh cells was not changed, the function of Tfh cells were greatly impaired with reduced ability of IL-21 secretion to promote B cell maturation. Association analysis by the Kaplan-Meier method revealed that IL-21 secreting Tfh cell was positively correlated to the CD27+ B cell subset frequency, the serum IgG level and the frequency of recurrence in JORRP patients, but negatively correlated to the percentage of IgD+CD27− B cell. We concluded that a reduced IL-21 secretion by Tfh cells may limit B cell maturation and antibody production in JORRP patients and Tfh cell-derived IL-21 might be associated with JORRP outcome in clinic.

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