Factors associated with the use of dental care among African immigrants in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador


Ukeme Eka, Memorial University

Research has indicated that regular access to and utilization of dental care services are crucial to preventing and managing oral diseases (Mehra et al., 2019). For instance, regular utilization of dental care services has been found to improve mental and social well-being (Kisely, 2016; Zucoloto et al., 2016), while lack of use has been linked to several chronic diseases, such as diabetes, chronic lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer (Linden et al., 2013). Werneck and colleagues found that the lack of publicly funded dental care insurance for adult Canadians contributed to the high prevalence of dental disease among immigrants (Werneck et al., 2008). Access to and using dental health care services is essential for optimal population well-being. There is a paucity of research on immigrants, but previous studies have indicated that Canadian immigrants have poorer oral health status than their Canadian-born counterparts (Calvasina et al., 2014; Mehra et al., 2019; Newbold and Patel, 2006). In particular, limited research exist on the dental care use of African immigrants in Canada. In this study, we use the Immigrant Health Services Utilization framework by Yang and Hwang (2016) to explore factors that facilitate or impede African immigrants use of dental health services in St. Johns, NL. To address the objectives of the study, data were collected between June and December 2020 from a cross-section of 272 African immigrants on their dental health access and usage. Complementary log–log regression models were used to examine factors influencing immigrants decision to seek dental health services considering Yang and Hwangs framework. Overall, 43.8% of African immigrants self-reported that they used dental health services in the past 12 months preceding the survey, while 35.7% indicated they had not used dental health services. Our findings demonstrated that socioeconomic variables are strongly associated with dental health services utilization. For instance, respondents’ personal income emerged as the most powerful determinant of dental care use. Immigrants who earned $55,000 and above were about 2 times more likely to use dental health services than those with incomes below this amount. These findings highlight socio-economic barriers to using dental care in NL among African immigrants and question the rationale for private insurance given its negative impact on dental health outcomes.

Non-presenting author: Eric Tenkorang, Memorial University

This paper will be presented at the following session: