Minister tells of battle against decay

Press, 29 May 1985, Page 25

Minister tells of battle against decay

PA Wellington New Zealand’s health authorities aim to have 50 per cent of five-year-olds free of dental caries by the end of the century. Delegates attending a World Health Organisation’s workshop on oral health in Wellington this week were told this by the Minister of Health, Dr Bassett.

He said the school dental service had managed to cut the number of extractions for each child from four a year when it began in 1922 to just one, and then had virtually eliminated the need to remove permanent teeth. Dental caries had remained a big problem for some years, with New Zealand having one of the

highest decay rates in the world in 1973. Since the introduction of fluoride in water, the average number of fillings for each child each year had dropped from five in 1965 to three in 1976. Describing New Zealand’s progress as “spectacular,” Dr Bassett said that where the average 12-year-old had nine teeth affected by decay in 1972, the figure had dropped to 3.3 by 1982. Now 12-year-olds had an average of only three decayed, missing, or filled permanent teeth. While 33 per cent of five-year-olds were caries-free in 1977, the proportion had risen to 44 per cent by 1982, with a target of 50 per cent by the year 2000.