Documenting the changing face of New Zealand.

This paper reviews the major descriptive dental epidemiological surveys that have taken place in New Zealand, and discusses the role of Dr TW Cutress in their initiation, organisation, and implementation. The study that has had the major impact was the 1976 Survey of Adult Oral Health, which had two main findings. First, teenagers had a high number of restored teeth, little untreated decay, and few extractions of permanent teeth, regardless of social or ethnic group. Second was the high rate of extraction of permanent teeth in adults. The survey findings created debate and intense activity in dental circles. A second national study, the World Health Organization's Study of Oral Health Outcomes, demonstrated that, by 1988, oral health had improved in all age groups. In the space of a little over a decade, the population had gone from having one of the highest levels of dental disease to a low disease level in children and marked reductions in tooth loss in adults. A further national survey is recommended to take place in the year 2000.