Adolescent oral health in New Zealand in 2009

Abstract

Background

Adolescence is an important developmental epoch, a dynamic period when the challenges of maturation from childhood to adulthood can have a substantial influence on both general and oral health. Among other things, behavioural factors can affect the state of oral health itself, or the ability of an individual to maintain it. There are several oral health–related domains that are of particular interest in the adolescent age group, including dental caries, periodontal disease, dental fluorosis, dental trauma, dental anxiety and oral hygiene.

In New Zealand, adolescents are eligible for publicly–funded dental care (up until their 18th birthday). Following that, individuals have to accept sole responsibility for the cost of their dental care. Thus, adolescence is an important period in which to promote and establish good oral health; however, there is a relative lack of information in the literature about adolescent oral health. As such, the aim of this study was to describe the oral health (and its associations) of New Zealand adolescents.

Objectives

The study’s objectives were:

1. To conduct a secondary analysis of the adolescent-age data from a previous national oral health survey;

2. To describe several (pertinent) oral health–related domains in the New Zealand adolescent population; and

3. To identify putative risk indicators/markers for each of the domains of interest.

Methods

The New Zealand Ministry of Health conducted a national oral health survey in 2009. Data on adolescent oral health were gathered through interviews and dental examinations. The current study was a secondary analysis of data on the 354 12- to 17-year-old adolescent participants, representing 373,986 adolescents in the population at that time. Several oral health domains were investigated, including dental caries, periodontal disease, dental fluorosis, dental trauma, dental anxiety and oral hygiene. Analyses used survey weights and were conducted using Stata.

Results

The prevalence of dental caries in the 12- to 14-year-old and 15- to 17-year-old age groups was 45.2% (33.4, 57.5) and 65.7% (54.5, 75.3), respectively. Their respective mean DMFT scores were 1.4 (1.0, 1.9) and 2.5 (1.7, 3.3). The prevalence of gingivitis was 71.6% (60.0, 80.9); clinical attachment loss ≥4mm was seen in 11.2% (4.5, 25.2) (gingivitis and periodontal attachment loss were recorded in the 15- to 17-year-old group only). Dental fluorosis was relatively uncommon, with respective prevalence estimates of 17.0% (10.3, 26.9) and 10.2% (4.8, 20.4), and dental trauma prevalence was 29.2% (19.8, 40.9) and 18.2% (10.5, 29.6), respectively. Only a few of the 15- to 17-year-olds were dentally anxious, and oral hygiene in the 12- to 14-year-olds was generally fair/good. Various putative risk indicators/markers were identified for each domain.

Conclusion

This study gave an insight into the state of adolescent oral health in New Zealand in 2009, by describing several (pertinent) oral health–related domains, and identifying several putative risk indicators/markers for each domain (and thereby gives some indication of the possible associations in the New Zealand adolescent population). More research is needed; however, the findings can be taken as starting points for further investigation.