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Comparison of oral health status of young persons from Dunedin, New Zealand, and Heidelberg, Australia
Author(s) -
Wright F. A. C.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1984.tb01458.x
Subject(s) - medicine , oral health , age groups , public health , dental health , demography , dentistry , delivery system , water fluoridation , service delivery framework , affect (linguistics) , gerontology , environmental health , service (business) , nursing , economy , sociology , economics , pharmacology , inorganic chemistry , linguistics , chemistry , philosophy , fluoride
This study compared the oral health status of 600 6‐16‐yr‐old young persons: 297 from Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia (an area of recent water fluoridation and a predominantly market‐place delivery system) and 303 from Dunedin, New Zealand (an area with established water fluoridation and a long‐standing school based public delivery system). A greater proportion of Heidelberg subjects, in each of three age groups, were caries free. Level of dental plaque varied both with study area and with age group. Dunedin subjects in the younger age groups had lower mean levels of plaque than their Heidelberg peers. The New Zealand dental service delivery system was consistently closer, in each age group, to meeting defined dental needs than the Australian system. The similarities and contrasts between this study and the WHO‐ICS illustrate the importance for planners to consider carefully differences in local conditions which may affect service and morbidity projections.