Dental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Indochinese and Australian-born adolescents.

Abstract

Since 1975 more than 100,000 Indochinese refugees have settled in Australia. This study compared the dental health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of 131 Indochinese and 107 Australian-born adolescents from a state high school in Melbourne, Victoria. The Australian-born subjects demonstrated the highest level of dental knowledge, and the Kampuchean/Laotian subjects the least. Of the three birthplace groups (Australia, Vietnam, Kampuchea/Laos), the Kampuchean/Laotian group were more likely to believe that their dental health was controlled by external forces. The Kampuchean/Laotian group presented the highest proportion of subjects believing they needed dental treatment. In contrast, however, the Kampucheans and Laotians had the lowest perceived value of preventive dental visits with the Australian-born adolescents presenting the highest proportion. The dental health behaviors of the Kampucheans and Laotians were generally the least favorable and those of the Australian-born subjects the most favorable, although all groups were well short of the conventional ideal. One-third of the Kampuchean and Laotian subjects said they had never been to the dentist before. Few Indochinese subjects claimed to be regular visitors to the dentist. Analysis of data using the framework of the Health Belief Model provided little explanatory power in predicting preventive behaviors. A greater understanding of cultural variations between ethnic groups and targeted dental health education programs would appear to be beneficial strategies for improving oral health of high risk adolescents.