April 12, 2019
Bad teeth bad start to school
A new University of Auckland study shows two in five children living in Auckland and Northland have one or more decayed, missing or filled tooth when they start school.
For Māori and children from very deprived neighbourhoods the rate is three in five, and in Northland it’s 54 percent.
This compares to rates of 25 percent in England, 35 percent in Wales, and 34 percent in Queensland, Australia in a similar age group.
The new study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, analysed records from school-entry dental exams of 27,333 children in 2014-2015.
Researcher Dr Tim Jelleyman says oral health is important for the wellbeing of children.
Tooth pain causes sleepless nights, loss of appetite, and general misery, and the early infections probably impact the later health of permanent teeth.
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