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Dental health of children in Australia, 1977–1985
Author(s) -
Carr L. M.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1834-7819.1988.tb01315.x
Subject(s) - medicine , oral hygiene , oral health , demography , hygiene , dental health , index (typography) , dentistry , pediatrics , pathology , sociology , world wide web , computer science
Dental caries and oral hygiene indices for school children aged four to 13 years have been determined each year since 1977. This report is based on 6 228 972 examinations. For children aged six to 13 years the mean DIMF indices declined by 59.3 per cent. For 12‐year‐old children the mean DIMF indices declined from 4.79 in 1977 to 2.13 in 1985; it is calculated that the DIMF index for this age group will be 1.5 in 1991. While a major decline in dental caries has been observed, a significant proportion of children continue to have a caries problem. Girls of all ages had lower mean oral hygiene indices than boys; the index for girls and boys combined declined by 26 per cent in the period 1977 to 1985.