title: Oral health of schoolchildren in Western Australia.
abstract: The West Australian School Dental Service (SDS) provides free, statewide, primary dental care to schoolchildren aged 5-17 years. This study reports on an evaluation of the oral health of children examined during the 2014 calendar year.
  
  
  
  Children were sampled, based on their date of birth, and SDS clinicians collected the clinical information. Weighted mean values of caries experience were presented. Negative binomial regression modelling was undertaken to test for factors of significance in the rate of caries occurrence.
  
  
  
  Data from children aged 5-15 years were used (girls = 4616, boys = 4900). Mean dmft (5-10-year-olds), 1.42 SE 0.03; mean DMFT (6-15-year-olds), 0.51 SE 0.01. Negative binomial regression model of permanent tooth caries found higher rates of caries in children who were from non-fluoridated areas (RR 2.1); Aboriginal (RR 2.4); had gingival inflammation (RR 1.5); lower ICSEA level (RR 1.4); and recalled at more than 24-month interval (RR 1.8).
  
  
  
  The study highlighted poor dental health associated with living in non-fluoridated areas, Aboriginal identity, poor oral hygiene, lower socioeconomic level and having extended intervals between dental checkups. Timely assessments and preventive measures targeted at groups, including extending community water fluoridation, may assist in further improving the oral health of children in Western Australia.
authors: West Australian Dental Health Services, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.|Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, The University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Arrow
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003729:Dental Care; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005457:Fluoridation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D012572:School Health Services; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Aboriginal oral health; WA School Dental Service; caries experience; child oral health; water fluoridation