Major study shows one third of Kiwis need dental treatment

Major study shows one third of New Zealanders need dental treatment

According to a new dental survey, which examined the dental habits of almost 5000 New Zealander’s, an alarming 35% had untreated dental decay, 33% had untreated gum disease and 25% had experienced pain in their mouth, jaw or face in the previous 4 weeks.

One in ten adults had taken time off work due to oral health problems in the last year. That is a lot of lost productivity that the country can ill afford.

Dr Alex McIntosh of McIntosh Dental - the leading dental practice in West Auckland who assisted with the study - says what is most concerning is the levels of untreated gum disease in New Zealand.

“One third of the NZ population has gum disease and are not aware they have it until it is too late and they start to lose teeth,” he says.

“More teeth are lost through gum disease than through tooth decay. Unlike tooth decay, gum disease doesn’t normally cause pain until it’s well advanced. People need to see their dentist to find out if they have gum disease, as it can be treated,” says Dr McIntosh.

The majority of New Zealanders usually only see a dentist when they had a dental problem rather than visiting for routine dental check-ups.

“People who only visit a dentist when they have a problem, have worse oral health which impacts on their quality of life. Poor oral health is often linked with heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness in elderly persons, pre-term births and low birth weights” says Dr McIntosh.

Nearly half of all surveyed said that a major reason they avoided the dentist was because of cost, however half the population admitted they didn’t visit a dentist often enough and knew that they currently needed dental treatment.

“We are aware that fear and cost are the two main barriers to dental treatment. “Offering modern, pain-free dentistry and having financial options in place, make dental treatment much more accessible to our patients,” says Dr McIntosh.

“Oral disease is almost entirely preventable and people who visit dentists regularly spend less overall and can prevent fillings and dental surgery in the future,” he says.

ENDS

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