Investigating the prevalence of non-fluoride toothpaste use in adults and children using nationally representative data from New Zealand: a cross-sectional study

Introduction Despite improvements in oral health outcomes in New Zealand over the last number of decades, there are still high levels of preventable tooth decay in adults and children. We investigate the prevalence and spatial variation of non-fluoride toothpaste use in a nationally representative sample of adults and children in New Zealand. Method Individual-level self-reported data were sourced from the New Zealand Health Survey (2017/18). Both child (n = 4,723) and adult (n = 13,869) data were used. Data included sociodemographic (for example, age), socioeconomic (for example, area-level deprivation) and dental-related (for example, type of toothpaste used) variables. Results Overall, 6.8% of adults and 6.4% of children use non-fluoride toothpaste. When split by deprivation, the highest prevalence of non-fluoride toothpaste use for children and adults was in the moderate to least deprived areas, while the lowest prevalence was in the most deprived areas. When disaggregated by ethnicity, the Asian population had the highest prevalence of non-fluoride toothpaste use for both adults and children compared to Māori, Pacific and European/Other. There was little difference in prevalence by rural/urban classification; however, prevalence varied geographically across the study area. Conclusion This is the first study that uses a nationally representative sample of adults and children to show variation in the use of non-fluoride toothpaste in New Zealand.