The 2009 New Zealand Oral Health Survey was the first nationwide survey to collect information on the oral health status of New Zealand adults and children in 21 years. There have been two previous national oral health surveys in New Zealand: the 1976 Survey of Adult Oral Health and Attitudes to Dentistry and the 1988 Study of Oral Health Outcomes.
The Ministry of Health commissioned the 2009 NZOHS to gather up-to-date information about the oral health of New Zealand adults and children and the oral health services they use. The 2009 NZOHS is valuable because it collected information on New Zealanders' oral health that is not available through other means, such as analysis of health system records. For most of the topics, the 2009 NZOHS is the best source of information on the current oral health status of the New Zealand population. CBG returned a weighted response rate of 70% for the adult sample and 69% for the child sample, with 84% of adults and 80% of children completing the dental examination.
