Summary

Persons living in rural and remote locations were found to generally have less favourable results than urban residents. The main findings are provided below:

  • Rural and remote dwellers were far more likely to usually visit the dentist for a problem than urban dwellers.
  • Rural  dwellers  reported  the  highest  level  of complete tooth loss and the lowest level of dental insurance coverage, and were most likely to have had a tooth extracted in the last year and be dissatisfied with their dental health.
  • Remote dwellers were most likely to have not visited a dentist in the last 2 years and to have attended a public clinic at their last dental visit.
  •  There was little variation in the prevalence of toothache and avoidance of certain foods across geographic regions. Residents were equally likely to report difficulty in paying a $100 dental bill irrespective of residential location.