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difference in scores between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children was for5-year-olds (4.34 for Indigenous children compared to 1.47 for non-Indigenouschildren) (figure 5.5.1).• Average numbers of adult teeth with decay for Indigenous children ranged from0.15 for six-year-olds to 1.81 for 13-year-olds, compared to 0.07 fornon-Indigenous six-year-olds and 0.80 for non-Indigenous 13-year-olds(figure 5.5.1).• The greatest difference in permanent tooth decay scores between Indigenous andnon-Indigenous children was for 13-year-olds; the score for Indigenous childrenwas 2.3 times as high as the score for non-Indigenous children (figure 5.5.1).• For both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, permanent tooth decay scoresincreased with age (figure 5.5.1).Attachment tables 5A.5.4 and 5A.5.5 presents average infant and adult tooth decayscores for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children aged four to 13 years enrolled inthe NT school dental service classified by the Socio-Economic Indices for Areas(SEIFA). The SEIFA was developed by the ABS using data derived from the 2001Census of Population and Housing, using a range of measures to rank areas basedon their relative social and economic wellbeing. A SEIFA category of ‘1’ denotesthe most disadvantaged areas and ‘4’ denotes the least disadvantaged areas(Jamieson, Armfield and Roberts-Thomson 2006b). None of the NT tooth decaydata for Indigenous children fell into category ‘4’ of the SEIFA (the leastdisadvantaged areas.Average infant tooth decay scores were higher for Indigenous children thannon-Indigenous children across all ages (from four to 10 years) and SEIFAcategories ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’ (table 5A.5.4). The highest scores for Indigenous childrenwere consistently associated with SEIFA category ‘1’ and the lowest scores withSEIFA category ‘3’ (table 5A.5.4). This provides evidence that Indigenous childrenfrom the most disadvantaged areas tend to have a greater number of decayed infantteeth.A similar trend was found for permanent tooth decay scores for Indigenouschildren, with the average number of decayed teeth decreasing as the level ofdisadvantage decreased from SEIFA category ‘1’ to ‘3’ (table 5A.5.5). Averagescores were higher for Indigenous children than non-Indigenous children across allages (from six to 13 years) in SEIFA category ‘1’ (table 5A.5.5).For non-Indigenous children, there was no consistent pattern between the averagenumber of decayed teeth (infant and permanent) and the level of disadvantage asmeasured by SEIFA (tables 5A.5.4 and 5A.5.5).EARLY CHILDDEVELOPMENT ANDGROWTH5.41