The dental status of 15-year-old South Australian students

An exploratory study of the dental health and habits of 15-year-old students from different socioeconomic levels revealed a generally low prevalence of caries experience (DMFT 3.3). Shallow periodontal pockets were found in an average of 0.4 sextants among 19.5 per cent of students, but gingivitis, calculus and overhanging margins of restorations were very common. The highest treatment needs were for oral health education (97.6 per cent) and scaling (69.6 per cent). Socioeconomic level was associated with the dental visit pattern and dental status; this confirmed other studies that found that the lower socio-economic groups were at a disadvantage. There were indications that some minority ethnic groups had higher caries experiences and lower dental service utilization.