Opportunities for oral cancer screening among older African-American women.

Background: Older persons with smoking histories are important targets for oral cancer screening. Although older persons in low-income communities often lack regular dental care, little is known about the characteristics of groups at greatest risk for poor screening.

Methods: Survey data from 576 African-American women aged 45-93 were used to identify predictors of smoking and recency and type of dental care.

Results: Fifty-nine percent of respondents were current or former smokers, and 62% reported dental care within the past 3 years. Among smokers, no recent dental care was associated with older age, worse health, not working, no regular medical provider, and no recent mammography.

Conclusions: These results suggest that episodic visits to non dentist providers offer opportunities for oral screening in high-risk populations.