title: Comparison of oral health status of young persons from Dunedin, New Zealand, and Heidelberg, Australia.
abstract: 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 marketplace 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.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004245:DMF Index; D005260:Female; D005457:Fluoridation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D009909:Oral Health; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D014505:Urban Population