A survey of the gingival health of Indo‐Chinese child refugees. Part II

Abstract

AbstractThe gingival health of 230 Indo‐Chinese children aged between five and twelve years was evaluated after a period of resettlement in Australia with access to dental care facilities. Twenty‐two per cent of these children recorded one or more sites on permanent teeth where there was loss of attachment associated with gingival crevices deeper than 3.5 mm. Such sites were recorded as early as age nine. The number of affected children and the frequency of sites recorded within these children increased markedly with age. Some children aged twelve recorded more than twice the number of sites recorded for children aged nine. Forty‐seven per cent of the sites recorded in affected children aged twelve demonstrated a loss of attachment ≥12 mm. Half of the children who recorded sites with loss of attachment after being resettled in Australia for two years or more registered between three and five sites per child.