Association of Parental Divorce With Oral Health in U.S. Children and Adolescents

Purpose: To examine the association between parental divorce or separation (PDS) and oral health outcomes in children and adolescents in the United States (U.S.), and learn whether the association was mediated by a lack of needed dental care in the past 12 months. Methods: Data obtained from a sample of individuals who participated in the 2020 to 2021 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), representing 65,790,496 U.S. children and adolescents, were analyzed. A child's exposure to PDS was the independent variable. The outcome of interest was pediatric oral health, measured through parental responses to survey questionnaires indicating whether their child had dental caries, toothaches, and/or bleeding gums within the past 12 months. Analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, logistic regression, and casual mediation analysis. Results: After controlling for demographic factors and insurance coverage, children who experienced PDS, had 30 percent higher odds of suffering from oral health problems versus those who did not (odds ratio equals 1.29; 95 percent confidence interval equals 1.16 to 1.45). The association appeared to be partially mediated by failure to receive needed dental care. Conclusions: Parental divorce or separation is associated with the oral health of children and adolescents in the United States. Findings from this population-based study highlight the potential impact of PDS on children's oral health.