Survey of dental sealants in Maryland third graders

The Survey of the Oral Health Status of Maryland Schoolchildren, 2000-2001 was used to describe dental sealant prevalence among third-grade public schoolchildren in Maryland. The presence/absence of dental sealants on permanent molars was scored according to visual criteria. Descriptor variables included gender, race/ethnicity, parent/guardian level of education, and dental insurance status. Overall, less than 25% of third-grade Maryland schoolchildren had dental sealants, including 16% of non-Hispanic black children, 11% of children from families with less than 12 years of education, and 17% of those without dental insurance. Controlling for co-variates, non-Hispanic blacks were 2.2 times as likely to lack dental sealants as their peers, compared with children from families with less than 12 years of education (2.7 times as likely) and those without dental insurance (1.9 times as likely).