Retrospective evaluation of oral health status and dental care services of immigrant and refugee children referred to Pediatric Dentistry Department

It is known that migration has negative effects on child health. Dental caries is one of the common health problems diagnosed in immigrant children. Poor oral health makes required treatments more complicated and leads to higher treatment costs. This study aims to evaluate the oral health status of immigrant children and the cost effects of dental services utilised by them in comparison with native children. The study was conducted by retrospectively analysing the data of 170 stateless and asylum-seeking child patients aged 0-16 years and randomly selected 170 native child patients who referred to Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry for dental treatment between 2017-2023. The records of the oral health status of the patients included in the study, which were available in the hospital database, and the details of the health services they utilized were analyzed in detail. Descriptive data were given as frequency (%), median, minimum-maximum, mean and standard deviation. Chi-square and Mann Whitney U tests were used for comparisons between groups. For all analyses, p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. As a result of the analysis of the recorded data on oral health status, mean DMFT and dmft scores were found to be 2.30 ± 3.01 and 8.57 ± 4.4, respectively, in immigrant children and 1.69 ± 1.99 and 4.34 ± 3.46, respectively, in the control group, and all scores were higher in the immigrant group. Statistical analyses showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the mean dmft scores (p<0.001). Although the mean DMFT score was found to be higher in immigrant children, this difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p>0.05). According to the data we obtained, the referrals to the dental services resulted mainly in restorative interventions and tooth extractions in immigrant children, whereas they resulted in fissure sealant procedures and tooth extractions in native children. The number of primary tooth extractions was significantly higher in immigrant children than in native children (p=0.001; p<0.01). It was observed that primary tooth amputation and fixed space maintainer procedures were performed more frequently in the migrant group and these differences between the groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). As a result of the cost analyses of the dental services used, it was found that the total treatment costs were higher in the migrant group (248,809.06 Turkish Liras) than in the control group (170,894.06 Turkish Liras). On the basis of treatment categories, it was found that all treatments except fissure sealant applications had higher costs in the migrant group. It was determined that the treatment cost differences between the groups were not statistically significant (p>0.05). Immigrant children are at a disadvantage in terms of the risk of developing caries. It should be carefully considered that treatment requirements that become complicated with poor oral health result in high costs. It is thought that oral and dental health educational programmes to be prepared specifically for immigrants and preventive dental procedures to be planned are important steps to be taken to improve oral health in immigrant children and to contribute to the national budget by reducing treatment costs.