Author(s)
Nazineen Kandahari, MS
Zainab Farzal, MD MPH
Affiliation(s)
University of California, San Francisco; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Abstract:
Educational Objective: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participants should be able to 1) describe the oral health issues and needs of refugee children; 2) describe factors that put refugee children at higher risk of developing oral disease compared to non-refugee children; 3) describe the role of otolaryngologists in promoting oral health and preventing disease among refugee children; and 4) identify areas of needed research in the oral health of refugee pediatric patients.
Objectives: Children comprise the majority of refugees. Refugee children are at risk of poor oral health due to adversity and deprived access to care, which has lifelong, systemic, and interpersonal consequences. We sought to understand oral health problems among refugee children resettled in developed nations and determine best practices for addressing them.
Data Sources: PubMed
Methods: A systematic review was performed in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A comprehensive search was performed from 1980 to 2022 using Medical Subject Heading terms: “children,” “refugee,” and “oral health,” and a separate search in which “oral health” was replaced with “dental caries.” Interventional, qualitative, and epidemiological studies about children resettled in developed nations were included.
Results: Of 22 studies, 20 analyzed oral health in refugee children directly, and two were qualitative studies interviewing parents/caregivers. Five cross-sectional studies included clinical exams, identifying as many as 62% of refugee children with dental caries. Four studies comparing refugee children to age/sex-matched children in the developed country determined refugees had significantly worse oral health. Two interventional studies demonstrated that parental education improved knowledge but did not improve children’s oral health, whereas oral screenings at refugee health clinics led to most children receiving referrals and completing treatment.
Conclusions: The refugee pediatric population is at higher risk of oral disease than non-refugee immigrant and native-born patients. Developed nations should address this disparity with research, particularly prospective and interventional studies, and community partnerships. Otolaryngologists care for clinical consequences of poor oral health and thus share responsibility.