New research reveals the role of preventive oral care in the UK

The survey included 2,000 consumers and 505 dental health professionals in the UK. It revealed that preventive oral care advice is not being offered consistently to patients despite a high dental caries incidence. Research shows that 70,000 people sought treatment for dental caries in UK emergency departments last year. Additionally, the survey found that only 34% of oral health professionals offered preventive care advice to patients, while 25% of patients said they had not been given preventive advice during their last dental appointment.

More than half of the oral health professionals, 59%, said that they are more likely to offer preventive advice for private patients than for National Health Service (NHS) patients. Additionally, more than 37% of NHS oral health professionals and 15% of private oral health professionals said that they could not routinely offer preventive care advice owing to time constraints. This could be explained by the rise of dental deserts in the country—research shows that some areas in England have over 3,000 people for every NHS dentist available.

The survey also found that oral health professionals disagree over what constitutes oral healthcare. Half of the dental professionals considered it vital to provide advice on additional oral hygiene products and brushing techniques. Additionally, 41% and 34%, respectively, considered advice on diet and caring for gingivae to be preventive.

Commenting on the findings, Bas Vorsteveld, a general manager for Great Britain and Ireland at Haleon, said in a press release: “We know that oral health professionals are facing huge pressures, and we want to help support them to be able to provide better preventative advice—not just during routine dental appointments, but outside of appointments too. Our findings revealed preventative care advice is not always offered consistently, despite patients and dentists understanding its importance. We remain committed to addressing these issues and will look to develop new initiatives to support dental professionals.”

“These will form alongside our existing initiatives which include providing educational materials to healthcare professionals, continuing to innovate and provide therapeutic oral care for patient issues at home and through campaigns like Shine Bright, which raises awareness in children of the prevention of oral health conditions,” he continued.

The importance of preventive care

The survey showed that out of the 2,000 consumers, only 49% believe that preventive care for oral health is very important, and a further 29% deem it somewhat important. More than half of the respondents said they would prefer to receive preventive oral health advice from their dentist. The majority of the dental professionals, 87%, said they believe that preventive action is beneficial for patients and that they aim to provide it proactively.

“Our findings revealed preventative care advice is not always offered consistently, despite patients and dentists understanding its importance.”—Bas Vorsteveld, Haleon

Additionally, the study found that 88% of consumers found preventive advice to be helpful. However, NHS patients, younger people and men were less likely to proactively ask for preventive care advice.

The availability of preventive care

The survey found a lack of understanding across consumers and oral health professionals over whether preventive care is routinely available on the NHS. While 48% of consumers said preventive oral healthcare advice is offered on the NHS, 34% were unsure. Additionally, 74% of oral health professionals said that preventive oral healthcare advice is offered on the NHS.

The researchers were happy to find out that 76% of the oral health professionals surveyed were aware of the Delivering Better Oral Health toolkit for prevention, published in June 2014 by the Department of Health and updated in November 2021, which aims to provide the best guidance on routine preventive care for practices.

Commenting on the survey findings, Dr Kate Fabrikant, a medical affairs director for northern Europe at Haleon, said: “Working in the industry, we must find ways to support the availability and accessibility of preventative oral care for all. We will continue to support dental professionals in facilitating behavioural change towards better oral health in their patients, whilst improving the health literacy of the patients to seek out and engage in preventative care, to help them practise better everyday self-care and avoid longer-term dental issues. There is a long road to travel to normalise healthy smiles in society, and it will take professionals, industry and policymakers coming together to get to this end goal.”

Dr Abhi Pal, president of the College of General Dentistry, added: “We are committed to quality and standards of excellence in general practice dentistry—helping professionals to do the best for their patients. The research revealed some fascinating insights into the role that preventative care plays in the UK. It’s quite properly a mainstay of both private and NHS appointments, and we support any initiative that promotes prevention.”

Regional differences

The survey also found some regional discrepancies between patients and oral health professionals. It was found that:

• only 40% of consumer respondents from Greater London think that preventive care is very important for oral health, compared with 55% in Northern Ireland and South West England;
• respondents from Greater London were less likely to have received advice, and only 37% have encountered preventive care advice, compared with 55% in the South East and 47% in the North East;
• 55% of respondents in Wales said that they received preventive care advice verbally from their dentist during the last visit. The same was true for 50% of respondents in Scotland, 48% in England and 37% in Northern Ireland.
• only 37% of respondents in Northern Ireland received preventive advice during their last appointment. However, 53% of the respondents from the region were interested in learning about preventive advice, compared with only 36% in the East of England, the West Midlands and the Yorkshire and Humber region.
• only 30% of respondents from the East of England felt that their dentist provided sufficient preventive care advice.

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