Associations Between Ethnicity, Socio-economic Status, Dental Caries and Service Utilisation

Objectives:The aim of this study was to determine the caries experience and utilisation of dental services by 5-year-old children in Canterbury and South Canterbury, New Zealand, and examine associations between ethnicity and socio-economic status. Methods:The data used in this study had been routinely collected into a computerised data collection system, by the regions School Dental Service. Records of dental status (dmft), contact with dental services before age 5, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) for 4748 children who were aged 5 when they received dental treatment in 2002 were analysed in this study. Results:There were significant differences in dmft scores between both ethnic (p<0.001) and SES groups (p<0.001). The mean dmft scores for Maori (3.8 sd,3.6), Pacific (3.9 sd,3.6),and Asian (3.7 sd,4.3) children were higher than for Other (largely NZ European) children (1.9 sd,2.9). Children from the lowest of the three SES groups had a mean dmft score of 3.2 (sd,3.5)compared to 1.8 (sd,2.5) for the highest group. The proportion of children who had visited a dental clinic as a preschooler was lower (p=0.001) for Maori (18.7%), Pacific (23.6%), and Asian (18.2%) than for Other children (39.5%). Preschool visits were less common (p=0.001) among children of low SES (25.9%), than for those of medium (35.4%) or high SES (40.9%). Conclusion:These results show that there are significant ethnic and SES-based inequalities in both oral health and preschool dental service utilisation in this group of children.