Improving Child Oral Health and Reducing Child Oral Health Inequalities

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Improving Child Oral Health and Reducing Child Oral Health Inequalities

Date of publication: May 2003

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Summary
Oral health is about much more than having good teeth. It is critical to good health and wellbeing for children and in adulthood. This report to the New Zealand Minister of Health details inequalities in child oral health, examines factors that contribute to the development of these inequalities and identifies areas for action.

Clear inequalities exist in the oral health of New Zealand children, especially among Māori and Pacific children and those families with low socio-economic status. There is however, enormous scope to reduce these inequalities, as most dental disease is preventable.

This report by the Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) includes its advice to the Minister of Health on how to improve child oral health and reduce inequalities in child oral health in New Zealand. At the beginning of the project, the PHAC commissioned a background paper on child oral health and inequalities from a team at the University of Otago. The paper provides detailed information about chid oral health inequalities, and is attached at the end of the report.

By taking a lifecourse approach, which considers health and non-health influences throughout the life span and between generations, this report identifies a range of factors that contribute to oral health inequalities as well as potential areas for action.

The prevalence and severity of child dental caries varies considerably between District Health Board (DHB) regions. On average, Māori and Pacific children have worse oral health than other New Zealand children. There is also substantial evidence of poorer child oral health in lower socioeconomic groups relative to groups with higher socioeconomic status. Children in rural areas are at higher risk of poor oral health than their urban peers.

Socioeconomic differences in oral health reduce during school years when children generally have access to free dental care, but these inequalities re-emerge in adulthood. This emphasises the impact and importance of access to free oral health services during school years.

The report finds that actions to improve child oral health and reduce health inequalities need to occur both within the health sector and the wider policy arena. This is consistent with the principles of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.

The report identifies seven areas in which PHAC believes changes or improvements can be made:

Influencing socioeconomic determinants
Improving Māori oral health
Encouraging fluoridation
Reorienting oral health services
A responsive and skilled workforce
Better information about child oral health and inequalities
Using child oral health as an indicator of health inequalities.

The PHAC makes a number of recommendations related to the seven areas above.

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This publication is not available in hard copy. It is only available on this website in PDF format below:

Improving Child Oral Health and Reducing Child Oral Health Inequalities (PDF, 362 KB)

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Publishing information
Date of publication: May 2003

ISBN (Document): 0-478-25309-5
ISBN (Internet): 0-478-25310-9

HP: 3630