Most children report good oral health - survey report

Most Australian children report good oral health; however financial barriers continue to affect the dental visiting patterns of children from low income households, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The report, Child and teenager oral health and dental visiting: results from the National Dental Telephone Interview Survey 2010, describes the self-reported oral health and dental visiting patterns of Australian children and teenagers as well as trends between 1994 and 2010.

It shows the majority of children and teenagers reported good oral health and made regular visits to a dentist. Almost 70% of children and teenagers had made a dental visit in the previous 12 months with the majority-84%-visiting for a check-up.

 

ADAVB believes that if there was more Government funding for public dental care many financial barriers would be eliminated, thereby asisting low income households to gain more timely access to public dental care.