Changes in Area level Socioeconomic Status and Oral Health of Indigenous Australian Children
Objective. Dental diseases have shown to be influenced by area level socioeconomic status. This study aims to assess the effects of change in area level SES on the oral health of Australian Indigenous children. Methods. Data were collected from a national surveillance survey for children's dental health at two points of time (2000 2002/2007 2010) The study examines caries experienced by area level SES and whether changes in area level SES (stable high, upwardly mobile, downwardly mobile and stable low) affects caries experience. Results. Dental caries in both the deciduous and permanent dentition increased significantly among Indigenous children during the study period. In stable low SES areas, the experience of decayed, missing and overall dmft/DMFT in both dentitions was highest compared with other groups at both Time 1(2.15 vs 1.61, 1.77, 1.87 and 0.86 vs 0.55, 0.67, 0.70 respectively) and Time 2 (3.23 vs 2.08, 2.17, 2.02 and 1.49 vs 1.18, 1.21 respectively) Conclusion. A change in area level SES was associated with experience of dental disease among Indigenous Australian children.
Journal of health care for the poor and underserved