Oral health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Dental statistics and research series no. 35

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia are disadvantaged in terms of oral health. This publication provides a summary of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child oral health using information from the Child Dental Health Survey, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Receipt of Hospital Dental Care Investigation and the Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Oral Health in Remote Communities. Throughout the states and territories studied, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children had consistently higher levels of dental disease in the deciduous and permanent dentition than their non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander counterparts. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children most affected were those in socially disadvantaged groups and those living in rural/remote areas. Trends in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child caries prevalence indicate that dental disease levels are rising, particularly in the deciduous dentition. Indigenous children aged <5 years had almost one-and-a-half times the rate of hospitalisation for dental care as other Australian children, and the rate of Indigenous children receiving hospital dental care rose with increasing geographic remoteness. Less than 5% of remote Indigenous pre-school children reported brushing their teeth on a regular basis and many young remote Indigenous children experienced extensive destruction of their deciduous teeth. Improving the oral health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia is an important public health and dental service provision issue.

Authored by Jamieson L, Armfield JM & Roberts-Thomson KF.

Published 14 December 2007; ISSN 1321-0254; ISBN-13 978 1 74024 618 7; AIHW cat. no. DEN 167; 131pp.; $25.00