A considerable number of Hispanic agricultural workers come to Northwest Michigan during the summer every year to harvest fruit and vegetable crops. The Department of Community Dentistry of The University of Michigan School of Dentistry helps provide dental services for these migrant workers and their families. Some 203 five-to-14-year-old children of migrant farm workers were examined for caries and periodontal condition and the results compared with recent national surveys. Traditional indicators of dental caries experience (DMFT/dft and DMFS/dfs indices), periodontal disease (PI), and oral cleanliness (OHI-S) were used by one examiner. These migrant children presented higher numbers of decayed teeth and lower numbers of restored teeth than United States schoolchildren generally. Migrant children also presented less caries-free teeth and higher PI and OHI-S scores than United States children generally.
A rural dental program located on La Gonâve, an island near the coast of Haiti is described along with demographic characteristics of the local population. The oral health of 61 adolescents and young adults seen during screening examinations was assessed. Caries free individuals made up 14.8% of the population. The mean DMFT for the group was 4.20. The OHIS score for the sample was 1.35; the PI score was 0.39. No significant association was found between DMFT, OHIS, PI and sex. One subject had a PI score 5.8 standard deviations from the mean score for the group and exhibited signs suggesting juvenile periodontitis.
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