Children's dental health: British expatriate residents in Tokyo, Japan

Aim: To identify in expatriate British parents resident in Tokyo, Japan, their levels of dental health knowledge, patterns of dental health behaviour, and caries status of their children compared to Japanese children. Methods: 223 parents with children at one school were asked to complete a structured questionnaire. Data were collected on: parental knowledge and behaviours with respect to caries prevention, and sweet consumption of the children. The caries status of the children was established by a clinical examination, using standard criteria. Results: The questionnaire response rate was 66.8%. The mean age of the children was 7.6 years (range 3-11 years). The responses related to 51 British, 21 Japanese, and 20 children who had British and Japanese mixed parents. 33% of British and none of Japanese children had sweet foods frequently. Fluoridated toothpaste was used by 67% of British and 10% of Japanese children. British parents knew about dental caries more than Japanese. 13% of British and 38% of Japanese children were found in the higher caries experience group. Conclusion: Parental access to information in the UK and to fluoridated toothpaste in Japan could have helped to prevent dental caries in these expatriate British children.