Perceived racial discrimination and lower-income backgrounds may be linked to poorer oral health and fewer visits to the dentist, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry.
Furthermore, exposure to racial discrimination appears to be linked to a higher likelihood of oral health problems, especially among children from low socioeconomic groups, and fewer dental visits among Hispanic and white children, the study’s authors wrote.
“Perceived racial discrimination is associated with worse oral health and inconsistently with having a dental visit,” wrote lead author Linnea A. Evans of the University of Massachusetts (J Public Health Dent, March 22, 2026, Vol. 86:1, pp. 8-19).
The study analyzed data from the 2016-2022 U.S. National Survey of Child Health, which included national and state-level information on the health of 219,811 children under the age of 18. The researchers examined two outcomes, including whether a child had a dental visit in the past year and whether they experienced any oral health problems, they wrote.
Dental visits were based on any visit in the past 12 months, while oral health problems were identified by combining reports of bleeding gums, cavities, or toothaches. Caregiver-reported exposure to racial discrimination was defined as whether a child was ever treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. Additionally, socioeconomic status (SES) was measured using the federal poverty level.
Children perceived as experiencing racial discrimination generally had fewer dental visits and more oral health problems. White children exposed to perceived discrimination were 7.2 percentage points less likely to have a dental visit (95% confidence interval [CI]: -12.3 to -2.1; p = 0.006), and Hispanic children were 4.7 points less likely (95% CI: -9.17 to -0.24; p = 0.039), while no significant change was seen for Black children (-0.01 points; p = 0.781). Hispanic children exposed to discrimination were 13 percentage points more likely to have oral health problems (95% CI: 8.1 to 18; p < 0.001), with increases of 4.7 to 6 points also observed in Black and white children (p < 0.01), they wrote.
In middle SES groups, white children not exposed to discrimination had higher dental visit rates (80.9%) than those who were exposed (71.6%; p = 0.011), while among high SES Black children, visit rates were higher for those exposed (86.0% versus 78.1%; p = 0.021) to discrimination. Oral health problems were the most pronounced among low SES children exposed to discrimination, increasing by 7.5 points for Black children, 8.8 for white children, and 12.6 for Hispanic children (all p ≤ 0.05), with significant differences persisting mainly for Hispanic children in middle SES groups (32.1% vs. 13.8%; p < 0.001) and no significant differences in high SES groups.
However, the study had limitations. The measure of dental care included essential or urgent treatments that may have been less likely to be skipped even when discrimination was experienced, the authors added.
“Attention to ongoing racial discrimination for children, particularly, from those living in low-income households, is needed to ensure that all children are receiving recommended care,” Evans and colleagues concluded.
