DT News - UK - Over a quarter of UK five-year-olds have dental caries

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 26 September 2013

save

LONDON – New figures published last week highlight that a considerable number of children in the UK have tooth decay. Despite a slight overall improvement in children’s oral health over the past four years, the new survey revealed that significant variations persist between children in different areas of the country and from different backgrounds.

The survey, which was published by Public Health England (PHE), an agency of the UK Department of Health, showed that 27.9 per cent of five-year-olds across the country have tooth decay. On average, children with decay had three to four affected teeth.

However, the survey found that the numbers vary significantly between different regions. More five-year-olds in northern regions (34.8 per cent) had tooth decay compared with those in the southern and eastern regions (21.2 per cent). In addition, levels of decay were higher in regions governed by poorer local authorities.

Compared with a survey carried out in 2008, an overall reduction in both severity and prevalence of decay was observed in the current study. As an increasing number of patients visit dentists today, health officials are confident that decay levels will continue to fall in the future.

“Since April this year, local authorities have been responsible for assessing the oral health needs of their local population, developing oral health strategies and commissioning oral health improvement programmes. We will be providing support to local authorities and are currently developing guides, starting with a focus on the needs of young children,” announced Prof. Kevin Fenton, PHE’s Director of Health and Wellbeing.

The full survey, titled “National Dental Epidemiology Programme for England: Oral health survey of five-year-old children 2012”, is available on the PHE website.

To post a reply please login or register

Nearly a quarter of Scots consider dental treatment unaffordable

EDINBURGH, Scotland: In troubling news, a recent survey on financial hardship in Scotland has found that almost a quarter of Scottish people feel that they ...

Study indicates 16% of UK dental professionals may have had COVID-19

BIRMINGHAM, UK: Across the UK, local lockdowns are proliferating as SARS-CoV-2 case numbers continue to increase. Though the initial nationwide lockdown ...

New Year Honours list recognises five dentists

LONDON, UK: More dental professionals than ever have received governmental honours according to the New Year Honours list published by the Cabinet Office ...

European dental qualifications will continue to be recognised in the UK for the next five years

LONDON, UK: The General Dental Council (GDC) has welcomed the announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care that standstill provisions ...

Philips’ stand in Birmingham hive of technical innovation

BIRMINGHAM, UK: The British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show on 18 and 19 May will form the backdrop to the latest product launch by Philips Oral ...

Dental regulation in UK must overcome climate of fear, GDC exec says

MANCHESTER, UK: The deteriorating relationship between dentistry and its regulatory body has to be addressed, Executive Director of Strategy at the General ...

Surge of New Year Honours for dental professionals

LONDON, UK: A number of prominent names have once again made it onto the 2018 New Year Honours list, including the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, ...

Dental tourism: Insights from a UK media analysis

LIVERPOOL, England: Dental tourism has seen significant growth in recent years, particularly among younger demographics influenced by social media trends. A...

Study finds Irish 3-year-olds are consuming too much sugar

DUBLIN, Ireland: Free sugars (FS) are sugars added to food during its production, as well as the sugars naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices....

Rates of dental caries in children decline in Scotland

EDINBURGH, UK: According to the latest statistics, the oral health of children in Scotland continues to improve. Overall, a report recently published by the...

Education

On-demand
webinar