Objective: To investigate the relationship between material deprivation, ethnicity, dental health and related behaviour in the five-year-old population of Leeds.
Design: Analytical survey using a stratified cluster sample of primary schools and a questionnaire to parents. Children were assigned to one of five bands according to the ranking of the Townsend deprivation index for the census enumeration district in which they lived. Standard clinical criteria were used.
Setting: Clinical examinations were carried out in school by four trained and calibrated examiners.
Participants: Two thousand six hundred and seventy seven children were examined and 1881 parental questionnaires were returned (70 per cent response).
Outcome measures: Caries experience expressed as mean dmft.
Results: Caries experience increased significantly with deprivation. Deprivation gradients were found in reported dental visiting, parental dental attendance and use of the Community Dental Service. Differences in caries experience between ethnic groups were independent of deprivation score with Asian children from the most deprived districts having a higher mean dmft than their white Caucasian and Afro-Caribbean counterparts (4.80, 3.21, 2.00; P < 0.001). Muslim Asians had significantly higher (P < 0.001) caries experience (dmft = 4.63) than non-Muslim Asians (dmft = 2.08) and the difference was maintained when the effect of deprivation was controlled (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: The Townsend index is a useful indicator of dental health and related behaviour among populations but does not explain variations between ethnic groups.