title: Total population investigation of dental hospitalizations in indigenous children under five years in Western Australia using linked data.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to compare dental hospital admissions in a total state birth population of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children aged under five years in Western Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Midwives' notification data were linked to databases of deaths, admissions, birth defects and intellectual disability. Births during 1980-1995 were followed until five years of age (n = 383,665). Dental admissions were classified by ICD-9 principal diagnosis categories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 738 dental admissions for 665 children aged up to five years of Indigenous mothers (n = 20,921). Indigenous children comprised 6.3% of all children having a dental admission in this age group; 3.2% of children with Indigenous mothers had a dental admission compared with 2.7% of non-Indigenous children. Overall, 8.7% (n = 58) of Indigenous children with a dental admission had a birth defect and 5.5% (n = 23) had an intellectual disability (compared to 8.8% and 3.2%). Indigenous children were four times more likely to be diagnosed with oral soft tissue diseases than non-Indigenous children, and less likely to be categorized as having diseases of the dental hard tissues. Indigenous children were more likely to have a longer dental admission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These analyses provide important findings regarding hospital admissions for Indigenous children. Admissions for disorders of the soft tissues are more common in Indigenous children.
authors: Oral Epidemiology, School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia. linda.slack-smith@uwa.edu.au
authors: L M
authors: LM
authors: Slack-Smith
authors: A W
authors: AW
authors: Read
authors: L J
authors: LJ
authors: Colvin
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Leonard
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Kilpatrick
authors: D
authors: D
authors: McAullay
authors: L B
authors: LB
authors: Messer
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology