Purpose of the Article
The purpose of the present article was to carry out a systematic review of the existing literature about oral health-related beliefs using Latino, African-American, Filipino, and Chinese as the primary exemplar populations.
Major Findings and Conclusions
Most explored clinical surveys and epidemiological studies showed a direct relationship between race and oral health status. Besides, the findings indicate that oral care decisions were subject to native beliefs and values. However, according to Butani et al. (2008), few studies relate to the identified groups. Based on the gathered data, the authors concluded that the available data on the influence of culture on the population’s oral health remained limited. Indeed, in their conclusion, the authors note that there was no conceptually straightforward literature on this topic and the lack of explicit theory to explore the influence of culture on oral health limited their findings.
Personal Thoughts
It is shocking to learn that limited literature about oral health-related beliefs exists. Contrary to my expectations, very few people have taken active measures to prove that cultural factors in racial groups like Latino, African-American, Filipino, and Chinese truly influence oral health and care decisions. I believe cultural differences affect people’s understanding of the need for dental care and influence their health-seeking decisions. Indeed, cultural factors like limited access to proper dental care, living in poor surroundings, unhealthy diets, and tobacco and alcohol use can affect an individual’s oral health. Despite the limited literature about this concept, the findings of the present article can help healthcare practitioners to collaborate with other stakeholders to create a promising avenue to understand the patients, their treatment decisions, and results.
References
Butani, Y., Weintraub, J. A., & Barker, J. C. (2008). Oral health-related cultural beliefs for four racial/ethnic groups: Assessment of the literature. BMC oral health, 8(1), 1-13.