Child health survey

Poor dental health affects nearly half of all six-year-olds. Of those, 10% have at least two damaged or missing teeth. This is a finding of The Child Dental Health Survey. Published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Dental Statistics and Research Unit, it examines the differences in oral health of children residing in differing areas of socioeconomic advantage. The findings show that caries experience differs across areas of varying socioeconomic status and that these differences are quite extensive.

The report also reveals the state of oral health in Australia’s school-age children, including age-specific and age-standardised measures of dental caries experience and treatment within each state and territory, and national estimates of these measures for 2001. Australian children experience comparatively low levels of dental caries. However, a minority of children still experience extensive decay and carry most of the burden of this disease.