Culture, inequality and the pattern of dental care in New Zealand

International comparisons of dental health reveal that a much higher proportion of adult New Zealanders wear full dentures than comparable groups in other countries with similar levels of dental disease. Within New Zealand itself, there are marked SES variations in dental treatment against the background of an almost uniform level of disease.

It is argued that the cross-national differences reflect distinct styles of dentistry that have been accommodated within prevailing norms of dental practice. Similar variations exist in the lay culture of dentistry and it is these, together with features of the delivery system, that account for the striking differences in dental treatment by social status in New Zealand.