Ten‐year changes in children’s oral health disparities: Findings from the 3rd and 4th oral health surveys in Beijing, China

OBJECTIVES: Little is known about children's oral health disparities and their changes in developing countries. This study aimed to measure rural‐urban and maternal education‐related disparities in dental visits and untreated caries among Chinese children, and to describe their changes between 2005 and 2015. METHODS: The 12‐year‐old children's oral health data were from the 3rd (2005) and 4th (2015) oral health surveys in Beijing, China. Rural‐urban disparities and maternal education‐related disparities in dental visits and untreated caries were measured. The slope index of inequality (SII) and a relative index of inequality (RII) were applied to reflect the absolute and relative disparities respectively. These were estimated using a generalized linear regression model. RESULTS: Data were analysed from 388 children in 2005 and 1926 children in 2015. The proportion of 12‐year‐old schoolchildren who visited the dentist was 24.0% in 2005 and 36.0% in 2015. Untreated caries prevalence in 2005 and 2015 was 20.9% and 16.2% respectively. Rural‐urban disparities in dental visits narrowed between 2005 and 2015 (SII: −10.75 to −3.30, RII: 0.55 to 0.87), and maternal education‐related disparities in dental visits also decreased during this decade (SII: −18.52 to −8.49, RII: 0.38 to 0.65). These changes were statistically significant. For disparities in untreated caries, only maternal education‐related disparities in untreated caries in 2015 were found. The SII and RII were 6.39% (95% CI: 1.65, 11.13) and 1.57 (95% CI: 1.13, 2.20) respectively. The change in disparities in untreated caries was not statistically significant for rural‐urban disparities (P = .319) or maternal education‐related disparities (P = .501). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that in Beijing, China, disparities in children's dental visits narrowed between 2005 and 2015. However, maternal education‐related disparities in dental visits and in untreated caries were still apparent, suggesting that policies to improve children's oral healthcare utilization equality should target the children with less‐educated mothers.