​The research examines the relationship between legal status and oral health care among Mexican-origin children. Using the 2001–2014 California Health Interview Surveys, the objectives are: (1) to demonstrate population-level changes in the legal statuses of parents, the legal statuses of children, and the likelihood of receiving
dental care; (2) to reveal how the roles of legal status boundaries in dental care are changing; and (3) to determine whether the salience of these boundaries is attributable to legal status per se.  
 

The results reveal increases in the native-born share and dental care utilization for the total Mexican-origin population. Although dental carewas primarily linked to parental citizenship early in this period, parental legal statuses are no longer a unique
 source of variation in utilization (despite the greater likelihood of insurance among citizens). These results imply
that future gains in utilization among Mexican-origin children will mainly come from overcoming barriers to
care among the native born.
 

Publication Authors:
 

• R.S. Oropesa
• et al