Determinants of Oral health of School Children in NSW, Australia

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to document the determinants of oral health of children in NSW.

Methods: The survey covered a representative sample of children aged 5–12 years from schools in NSW. Trained and calibrated examination teams conducted oral epidemiologic examination. Basic demographic data was also collected. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to calculate the rate ratios (RR) between determinants and oral health outcomes while controlling for other factors.

Results: Total of 7995 children were examined. After controlling for other variables, for children aged 5 to 10    years: living in a postcode where the town water supply was unfluoridated(RR=1.60; 95% CI, 1.29-2.00), Indigenous children  (RR=1.66; 95% CI, 1.25-2.20), having a parent/ guardian with a Centrelink concession card (RR=1.61; 95% CI, 1.41-1.84), having a mother who was born in a country that does not use English as a main language (RR=1.79; 95% CI, 1.53-2.08), increasing remoteness (IRR=1.93; 95% CI, 1.24-3.02) was significantly associated with a increase in the count of deciduous dmfs.

Similarly, for children aged 8 to 12 years:living in a postcode where the town water supply was unfluoridated (RR=1.33; 95% CI, 1.02-1.72), being of Indigenous background  ((RR=1.77; 95% CI, 1.30-2.40)), having a parent (or guardian) who is a holder of a Centrelink concession card (RR=1.55; 95% CI, 1.33-1.81), having a mother whose English is not the main language (RR=1.24; 95% CI, 1.03-1.48),  was significantly associated with a increase in the count of permanent DMFS.

Conclusions: Children of indigenous background, living in unfluoridated areas,  whose parents are concession card holders, having a mother who was born in a country that does not use English as a main language have significantly higher dental decay rates than the general child population.