In Queensland, Australia, nearly half of children aged five to 12 have some form of tooth decay. The average child is also likely to have an average of three affected teeth.

Nearly half of all Queenslanders aged five to 12 years suffered from tooth decay, a report into children’s dental health has found.

The Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing report Child Dental Health Surveys Australia, 2005 and 2006, released yesterday, found 45.4 per cent of Queensland children utilising public dental services suffered from tooth decay in either their baby or adult teeth.

The state’s record compares unfavourably to the rest of the surveyed states, with only the Northern Territory having a higher instance of decay (47.1 per cent).

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It also found the average Queensland child aged five to six years was likely to have nearly three (2.74) of their teeth affected by decay.

Queensland children’s poor dental health was highlighted last year when an Ipswich woman was jailed for 12 months for only feeding her nine-year-old daughter cordial.

The girl needed to have 12 teeth extracted.

The studies predate the state government’s move to add fluoride to the Queensland water supply.

A lack of exposure to fluoride is named in the study as one of the risk factors for dental decay, along with the intake of… continue reading

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