Further information
about the study and data can be found at http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/
Oral diseases are among the most common chronic diseases worldwide.1 Oral diseases not only have an impact on general health and quality of life but may also increase the risk of mortality.2 GW572016 Treatment of oral diseases are costly in the healthcare system and for individuals, especially for those from low-income and deprived households.2 There are widespread inequalities in oral health outcomes within and between different countries of the world.3 However, most studies examining social inequalities and gradients in oral health have been conducted in high-income countries with populations that generally lie above the poverty line. As such, they do not focus on whether social health inequalities exist in the context of absolute poverty. No study on oral health inequalities from India has considered populations from extremely deprived areas like urban slums and resettlement communities. Different theories have
highlighted various explanations of inequalities observed in general as well as oral health.4–8 According to these, inequalities arise because of adverse material circumstances, health-affecting behaviours or due to various psychosocial factors. Although there is a considerable amount of literature on general health,9–11 there is a paucity of evidence in the dental literature for examining how different behavioural, psychosocial and socioenvironmental factors influence oral health inequalities. Our study assessed the impact of socioeconomic inequalities on dental caries among adolescents living in different geographical areas and conditions in the city of New Delhi, India. We also explored the effect of material, psychosocial and behavioural determinants on these inequalities in dental caries among adolescents. Methods The study was carried out in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Nearly 0.2 million people migrate to Delhi every year and the majority of them reside in urban slums; they constitute about 20% of the
total population of Delhi.12 Many migrants as well as the urban poor also reside in unauthorised and resettlement communities (settlements which have recently been legalised by the Government and were previously slums; these are better off economically in comparison to slums). Study population This cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents, aged 12–15 years, Brefeldin_A living in three diverse residential areas of New Delhi reflecting their economic position: urban slums; resettlement communities; and middle and upper middle class communities. Study tools Data were collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire and a clinical examination. The questionnaire measured material resources, neighbourhood social capital, social support, health-related behaviours (alcohol and tobacco use, diet, frequency of tooth brushing) and key sociodemographic variables.