Aim: The primary aim was to describe New Zealand secondary school students' use of dental services and determine the nature and extent of any inequities by deprivation status and ethnicity. A secondary aim was to to describe their toothbrushing practices and self-reported dental pain experience, past restorative treatment and tooth loss.
Method: Secondary analysis of data from the cross-sectional Youth 07: National Survey of the Health and Wellbeing of New Zealand Secondary School Students. A representative sample of 9,098 secondary school students aged 13-17 years from 96 secondary schools across New Zealand took part, with a response rate of 73%. Self-report information about oral health care behaviour, past dental experiences and dental visiting pattern was collected. Data analysis took the complex survey design into account, and multivariate analysis was undertaken to examine the associations of dental service-use.
Results: A dental visit in the previous 12 months was reported by 72% of participants. The odds of having done so were higher among females, those who brushed at least twice daily, and those who had been kept awake at night by dental pain. Lower odds were seen among students identifying with Māori, Pacific or Asian people (and those in the 'Other' ethnic category) than among European students, and among those residing in medium- or high-deprivation areas than those in lo-deprivation areas. One in seven participants reported having lost a tooth due to oral disease. Having had a tooth filled was reported by almost three-quarters of the sample, and having been kept awake by dental pain at night was reported by just over one in five. Almost two-thirds reported brushing their teeth twice or more in the previous 24 hours, and a small minority had not brushed at all.
Conclusion: Ethnic and socio-economic inequities in the use of dental services are apparent among New Zealand adolescents.