Social Stratifications and its implications on Oral Health

Socio-economic conditions have long been known to influence human health. Social inequality has always been at the core of the sociological discipline. It refers to a condition whereby different people have unequal access to valued resources, services and positions (Kerbo, 2000). Sociologists have tried to find patterns and structures in these inequalities, and in that way social stratification structures were developed. Traditionally, income and poverty inequality is regarded as one of the most salient inequalities. Research results have shown that poverty is unequally spread over different social classes, gender groups, education levels, ethnicity groups etc. For the majority of the world’s people, health status is determined primarily by their level of socio-economic development. Social structure is found in all human groups. Social structure refers to the patterned relationships among individuals and groups.