Data from the National Child Nutrition Survey (2002) were used to predict dental pain and receipt of hospital dental general anaesthetic amongst 3,275 New Zealand children. The ethnicity of those surveyed was 37.4% Mäori, 32.3% Pacific and 30.3% New Zealand European or Other (NZEO). Following adjustment for age, sex, length of time lived in New Zealand, household socio-economic status and physical factors, rates of dental pain were similar amongst Pacific and NZEO children. However Mäori children were more likely to experience dental pain than NZEO children. Similar rates of receipt of a dental general anaesthetic were found amongst all three ethnic groups after adjustment for demographic, lifestyle, dietary, food security and dental factors. However overall, Pacific children were less likely to have received a dental general anaesthetic than NZEO children. These results may reflect the consequences of issues such as access to ser-vices and cultural sensitivity of services, as apposed to demand for care.
