Dental habits of Australian families laid bare with survey showing one in five kids forgoing twice-daily brushing

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Most Australian parents are unaware of when to take their children to the dentist for the first time and many underestimate the importance of caring for baby teeth, a new survey has found.
The Australian Dental Association (ADA) poll of 25,000 adults has laid bare the dental habits of Australian families, finding one in five children only clean their teeth once a day.
It found 87 per cent of parents are aware fruit juice leads to tooth decay, yet 27 per cent of children still drink it every day.
Almost four in 10 children also have soft drink two to five times a week.
While 68 per cent of children brush twice a day, the survey revealed more than three-quarters fail to floss themselves — or have adults do it for them.
That's despite dentists recommending daily flossing for children from when they have two or more baby teeth side by side.
Tasmanian-based ADA president Chris Sanzaro said one in three children visited a dentist for the first time when they were experiencing problems with their teeth.
"That's later than it really should be," Dr Sanzaro said.
"We should be getting children into the dentist before the age of one or when their first tooth erupts into the mouth, whichever happens first.
"To some people that may seem a bit young. But it helps introduce the infant to the sights, sounds and sensations of the dentist, as well as helping to spot any issues early."
The survey found four in 10 Australian adults believe children having their first dental visit at two years old is acceptable, while 20 per cent think it should be at age three and 10 per cent believe age four or older is appropriate.
Only 25 per cent thought age one or younger is the best option.
Dr Sanzaro said the survey, conducted in November and December 2024, highlighted a lack of parental understanding of the importance of baby teeth.
"They're there not only to allow them to smile and chew and function effectively, but they're also space holders for adult teeth," he told the ABC.
"When we get a hole into a baby tooth and it expands to the point where we can't save the tooth anymore, it needs extraction.
"Once that tooth's out, that space can close up and it can cause more crowding in the adult teeth and lead to the need for orthodontic treatment later on."
Three-quarters of the women surveyed failed to have a dental check-up before conception, despite the link between poor oral health in pregnancy and low birth weight and pre-term babies.
Paige O'Brien's six-year-old daughter Charlotte had five stainless steel crowns fitted to her back molars last year after complaining of a "sharp tooth".
"She had actually quite a bit of decay and cavities in her teeth," Ms O'Brien said.
"I was definitely surprised to see how much had sort of developed, being that she was so young."
Ms O'Brien said while Charlotte's teeth were brushed in the morning, they only cleaned them "every now and then" at night.
Charlotte, who sees a dentist in Albury, NSW, was drinking fruit juice often after a doctor recommended it for her as a toddler with bad symptoms of constipation.
"We just stuck with it, she liked it, and it tasted good, so we just kept on with the juice and that created some problems," Ms O'Brien said.
Armed with more knowledge, Charlotte's dental routine is now much more extensive.
"The more we can do to help her, the better," Ms O'Brien said.
She was able to access the federal government's Child Dental Benefits Schedule to help pay for Charlotte's treatment, which allows parents to claim up to $1,132 for each eligible child over two consecutive calendar years.
Queensland Children's Hospital dentist Gregory Ooi said he frequently treated children with dental caries, the medical term for tooth decay, particularly those from lower socio-economic areas.
"It's a very common chronic health disease in children and adults — probably the most common," the specialist paediatric said.
"I certainly don't think it's improving.
"It doesn't feel like we're making big inroads. It costs the public system and private system … millions and millions of dollars a year for what's largely preventable disease."
Dr Ooi said dental decay was caused by plaque, a sticky film of bacteria on teeth, that was not effectively being removed.
"Generally speaking, if a person is to have sugar more than four times a day and not clean the plaque off effectively, they will usually get some sort of decay on their teeth," the Brisbane-based dentist said.
The survey was mostly conducted as online interviews but 1,500 Australians aged more than 65 without internet access were surveyed on the telephone.
Phone and online surveys were offered in languages including Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Punjabi in addition to English.