Dental caries and stress among South African political refugees

The aim of this study, which was conducted in a refugee camp of the African National Congress in Tanzania, was to analyze the caries experience in relation to perceived stress and sleeping problems and stressful experiences among South African political refugees. A sample of 194 persons, aged 11 to 39 years, was examined clinically and interviewed. There was a consistent association between caries experience and the different parameters for estimating perceived and experienced stress. In particular, the aggregation of different stress indicators seemed to be strongly related to higher caries experience.