Accelerating the decline in dental decay

Incidence of dental caries may be declining in the UK, but there is still work to do. It is estimated that almost one in three UK adults have tooth decay, with an average of 2.1 decayed teeth per person. Nearly 11 per cent of three-year-olds surveyed in 2018 had already experienced dental decay in an average of three teeth, while 23 per cent of five-year-olds had received the diagnosis too. Extractions due to tooth decay remain a leading cause of hospital admissions for 0 to 19-year-olds in the UK, with nearly 27,000 episodes recorded in 2021/22.

A closer look

Though the overall figures don’t paint a fantastic picture, there is more information to be learned by digging deeper.

For example, it’s important for dental professionals to be aware of the inequalities that exist in this field. Statistics from 2018 suggested that 32 per cent of the adult population in the South West of England had caries, compared to 21 per cent in the South East. Similar differences were found between the regions among children, with 34 per cent of five-year-olds in the North West and 16 per cent in the South East experiencing some form of decay. Data has also shown a significant difference in the level of decay between regions, averaging 0.5 d3mft (the number of decayed teeth and those lost or filled due to decay) in the South East and 1.3 in the North West.