American Indian (AI), Alaska Native (AN), and Native Hawaiian (NH) populations report higher rates of diabetes, poorer oral health, and fewer dental visits than their peers. The authors aimed to identify relationships between oral health and dental visits and diabetes diagnosis among AI, AN, and NH elders.
Data were obtained from a national survey of AI, AN, and NH elders 55 years and older (April 2014-2017) and included 16,136 respondents. Frequencies and ?2 tests were used to assess the relationship between oral health and dental visits, and diabetes.
Nearly one-half of the elders reported receiving a diagnosis of diabetes (49.2%). A significantly (P