Story: Dental care

Dental decay in New Zealand children

This graph shows the average number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (dmft) for five-year-olds and 12-13-year-olds between 2007 and 2017. The statistics suggest that, overall, oral health for New Zealand children is improving but that inequalities in Māori and Pacific oral health persist. For Māori 12-13-year-olds, there was an apparent worsening of oral health in 2016-2017 but it is unclear whether this is a longer-term trend.

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Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

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Source: Ministry of Health, Age 5 and Year 8 oral health data from the Community Oral Health Service

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How to cite this page:

Andrew Schmidt and Susan Moffat, 'Dental care - Dental nurses to dental therapists', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/graph/47127/dental-decay-in-new-zealand-children (accessed 26 April 2024)

Story by Andrew Schmidt and Susan Moffat, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 6 Nov 2018