Abstract
BackgroundImmigrants are often considered to have poorer oral health than native born-populations. One possible explanation for immigrants’ poor oral health is lack of access to dental care. There is very little information on Canadian immigrants’ access to dental care, and unmet dental care needs. This study examines predictors of unmet dental care needs among a sample of adult immigrants to Canada over a three-point-five-year post-migration period.MethodsA secondary data analysis was conducted on the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC). Sampling and bootstrap weights were applied to make the data nationally representative. Simple descriptive analyses were conducted to describe the demographic characteristics of the sample. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were applied to identify factors associated with immigrants’ unmet dental care needs over a three-point-five-year period.ResultsApproximately 32% of immigrants reported unmet dental care needs. Immigrants lacking dental insurance (OR = 2.63; 95% CI: 2.05-3.37), and those with an average household income of $20,000 to $40,000 per year (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.01-2.61), and lower than $20,000 (OR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.31-3.86), were more likely to report unmet dental care needs than those earning more than $60,000 per year. In addition, South Asian (OR = 1.85; CI: 1.25-2.73) and Chinese (OR = 2.17; CI: 1.47-3.21) immigrants had significantly higher odds of reporting unmet dental care needs than Europeans.ConclusionsLack of dental insurance, low income and ethnicity predicted unmet dental care needs over a three-point-five-year period in a sample of immigrants to Canada.
Highlights
Immigrants are often considered to have poorer oral health than native born-populations
Our study sample included non-refugee immigrants aged 18-60 years old, who left their country of origin directly to immigrate to Canada and who reported an unmet dental care need over the years after immigrating to Canada
We excluded immigrants who had lived in Canada before immigrating, as well as those who had lived in a third country before participating in the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC), because we were interested in examining the effect of the first process of immigration on immigrants’ ability to have access to dental care in Canada
Summary
Immigrants are often considered to have poorer oral health than native born-populations. There is very little information on Canadian immigrants’ access to dental care, and unmet dental care needs. This study examines predictors of unmet dental care needs among a sample of adult immigrants to Canada over a three-point-five-year post-migration period. Unmet dental care needs have been correlated with poor oral health and poor dental service utilization [8,9]. In many studies in the US, unmet dental care needs have been used to measure difficulties with access to dental care due to service costs, or lack of insurance in many studies in the US [10,11,12,13]. In this study, unmet dental care needs was used as an indicator of barriers to gaining access to dental care
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