[Oral health and use of dental care by 8-year-old immigrants and German students of the Ennepe-Ruhr district].

Information about the oral health status of immigrants or migrants living in the Federal Republic of Germany are still limited. Hence, it was the aim of this study to analyse the oral health status and the use of dental care in Germany (n = 360) and migrants' children (n = 90) of as years of age in Westphalia. Caries was recorded using WHO diagnostic criteria (1987). Dental care utilisation patterns were assessed by means of a questionnaire. 79.1% of all 8-year-olds were caries-free in the permanent dentition. The mean caries incidence in the study population was 7.6 dfs and 0.7 DMFS. Migrants had a significantly higher caries incidence (12.0 dfs, 1.1 DMFS) than their German class-mates (6.5 dfs, 0.6 DMFS). The results suggested that 8-year-old migrants lack dental care and prevention and must be classified as caries-risk subjects. More intensive community-based and individual dental care and preventive programmes are necessary to improve oral health in migrant children.