Changes in Socioeconomic Disparities in Primary Tooth Caries in the United States: NHANES 1988 to 2004 Takenaka TH *1, Cunha-Cruz J 2, Leggott PJ 1 1 Department of Pediatric Dentistry; 2 Dental Public Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Introduction Materials and Methods  The last decade of the century witnessed an increase in dental caries among preschoolers  Striking disparities in oral health continue to exist between certain population subgroups when stratified by age, sex, income, and race/ethnicity Purpose of this study: To investigate changes in the association between dental caries prevalence of preschoolers and parental income in the United States over the period of Changes in Caries Prevalence Disparities, Changes in Caries Prevalence, Contact Conclusion There has been no significant change in the disparity in primary tooth caries based on socioeconomic position in preschool-aged children in the last two decades.  The effect of socioeconomic position on caries prevalence in the very young remains significant  There was a strong association between the selected sociodemographic/lifestyle factors and the disparity in caries prevalence in this age group at each time point, but these variables did not affect the disparity over time Tracy H Takenaka, DDS 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box , HSC B-242 Seattle, WA Data source:  NHANES III: 4,801 persons 2-5 years of age  NHANES : 2,735 persons 2-5 years of age Primary outcome: Dental caries in primary teeth Main Exposure: Socioeconomic position (SEP) defined as the ratio of reported family income to the federal poverty level (FPL) Low-SEP: income level at or below 133% of the FPL High-SEP: income level greater than 350% FPL Covariates: age, gender, race/ethnicity, head of household (HH) nativity, HH education level, primary language spoken at interview, health and dental insurance status, maternal prenatal smoking status, breastfeeding history, time since last dental visit Statistical Analyses:  Descriptive statistics calculated as percentages  Prevalence, prevalence ratios, and prevalence differences calculated at each time point  Wald F test and t test used to compare prevalence ratios and prevalence differences over time Level of significance: p < 0.05 Caries prevalence ratios by characteristics in low- and high-SEP children: United States, and Caries prevalence differences by characteristics in low- and high-SEP children: United States, and Change Low-SEP34.9( )39.5( )4.6( )0.047 High-SEP8.9( )11.7( )2.8( )0.297 Prevalence Ratio3.9( ) ( ) Prevalence Difference26.0( ) ( ) ( )0.602 Caries Prevalence, Prevalence Ratio, and Prevalence Difference in Children: United States, and * Change was statistically significant p < 0.05