DENTAL-CARIES AMONG AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL, NONABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN-BORN, AND OVERSEAS-BORN CHILDREN

Few studies have specifically compared the prevalence of dental caries among contemporary Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. Historically, Aboriginal groups have had substantially fewer dental c aries than non-Aboriginal peoples. More recently, however, this trend appears to have been reversed, with improvements in the oral health of non-Aboriginal children and a deterioration in that of Aboriginal chi ldren; this tendency has important implications for dental health serv ices. This study compared the caries experience among a weighted sampl e of Community Dental Service patients aged 4-13 years for the period January-December 1992 among 4138 Aboriginal children, 9674 non-Aborigi nal Australian-born children, and 957 overseas-born children resident in Northern Territory, Australia. The outcomes considered included the aggregate numbers of decayed, missing and filled deciduous (dmft) and permanent (DMFT) teeth. Oral disease experience and prevalence of unt reated oral disease were higher among Aboriginal and overseas-born chi ldren. An analysis of variance using planned comparisons indicated tha t there were significantly more decayed teeth and higher aggregate car ies experience in the deciduous and permanent dentition of Aboriginal and overseas-born children than of non-Aboriginal Australian-born chil dren, while overseas-born children also had more fillings and fissure sealants than the non-Aboriginal Australian-born children.