The dental status of 15‐year‐old South Australian students

Abstract

An exploratory study of the dental health and habits of 15‐year‐old students from different socioeconomic levels revealed a generally low prevalence of caries experience (DMFT 3.3). Shallow periodontal pockets were found in an average of 0.4 sextants among 19.5 per cent of students, but gingivitis, calculus and overhanging margins of restorations were very common. The highest treatment needs were for oral health education (97.6 per cent) and scaling (69.6 per cent). Socioeconomic level was associated with the dental visit pattern and dental status; this confirmed other studies that found that the lower socio‐economic groups were at a disadvantage. There were indications that some minority ethnic groups had higher caries experiences and lower dental service utilization.

Periodontal disease among 45–54 year olds in Adelaide, South Australia

“…39 The association of place of birth and language with periodontitis in the multivariate model suggests socio-cultural links in this cohort that could be related to cultural practices and barriers to dental care. While some dental studies in Australia have indicated disadvantage among migrant groups, [40][41][42][43][44] suggesting children of more recent migrant groups are most at risk, there are reports that migrants are generally not disadvantaged in terms of their health status. [45][46][47] However, language barriers have been implicated in reduced access to services and quality of care provided to people from non-English-speaking backgrounds.…”