Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Child Oral Health in Three Australian States and Territories

Authors: Jamieson, Lisa; Armfield, Jason; Roberts-Thomson, Kaye

Source: Ethnicity and Health, Volume 12, Number 1, January 2007 , pp. 89-107(19)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Objectives. To explore the prevalence and severity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous child dental disease in relation to age, sex, residential location and socio-economic status in three Australian states and territories. Design. Children aged 4-14 years who were enrolled in a school dental or screening service in New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, Australia, were randomly selected to take part in this cross-sectional study. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess outcomes. Results. A total of 328,042 children were included, of which 10,517 (3.2%) were Indigenous. Some 67.1% of Indigenous children lived in rural areas and 47.3% lived in areas of high disadvantage. About 37.5% of 4- to 10-year-old Indigenous children had no experience of dental disease in the primary dentition while 70.7% of 6- to 14-year-old Indigenous children had caries-free permanent dentitions. The mean number of decayed, missing and filled primary teeth (dmft) of Indigenous 4- to 10-year-old children was 2.9 (SD; 3.4) while the mean DMFT of Indigenous 6- to 14-year-old children was 0.8 (SD; 1.6). Across all age-groups, Indigenous children living in the most deprived areas had higher dmft and DMFT levels than their more socially advantaged counterparts, while rural-dwelling Indigenous children had higher levels of dental disease experience than metropolitan-dwelling Indigenous children. After adjusting for potential confounding, Indigenous children aged 4-10 years were over twice as likely to have caries in the deciduous dentition than similarly aged non-Indigenous children (OR: 2.25, CI: 2.14-2.36), and 6- to 14-year-old Indigenous children were over one and a half times more likely to have decay in the permanent dentition (OR: 1.68, CI: 1.60-1.77) than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Conclusion. Indigenous children experienced higher caries prevalence and severity than non-Indigenous children, irrespective of other socio-demographic factors. Factors concerning Indigenous social capital may have influenced our findings.

Keywords: Indigenous; Children; Dental Caries; Socio-economic Status; Rurality

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13557850601002197

Publication date: 2007-01-01

Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Child Oral Health in Three Australian States and Territories

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