Oral Health inside - Communities and Local Government

ResultsAge of the children and adolescents examined in the surveyChildren in Junior Infants, 2 nd and 6 th Class and Junior Certificate year comprised the samplingframe in RoI. In NI the sampling frame consisted of children in Primary 1, Primary 4, Year 1 andYear 4. The children are referred to as 5-, 8-, 12- and 15-year-olds, throughout the report. Theiractual age on the date of examination was recorded and the mean age of the childrenexamined in the different classes are presented in Table 4. As many oral conditions are agerelated,it is important to ensure that the mean age of the children in groups under comparisonis similar. As can be seen in Table 4, the mean age of the children according to gender,fluoridation status and disadvantage was comparable.Table 4Mean age according to gender, fluoridation status and disadvantage as indicated by familyownership of a Medical Card (RoI) or low income benefits (LIB) (NI) of children andadolescents examined in RoI and NIAGE GROUP5 8 12 15RoI Female 4.8 7.8 11.9 14.6Male 4.9 7.9 11.9 14.7NI Female 4.9 7.8 11.7 14.7Male 4.9 7.8 11.7 14.6RoI Full Fl 4.8 7.8 11.9 14.6No Fl 4.9 7.9 11.9 14.7NI No Fl 4.9 7.8 11.7 14.7RoI MC 4.8 7.9 12.0 14.7No MC 4.9 7.8 11.9 14.6NI LIB 4.9 7.8 11.7 14.8No LIB 4.9 7.9 11.7 14.7RoI Total 4.8 7.9 11.9 14.7NI Total 4.9 7.8 11.7 14.7The mean age on thedate of examinationwas similar for gender,fluoridation anddisadvantage. This isimportant becausedental caries is acumulative conditionincreasing with age.15