The dental caries experience of 14-year-old children in the United Kingdom. Surveys coordinated by the British Association for the Study of CommunityDentistry in 1998/99
Nb. Pitts et al., The dental caries experience of 14-year-old children in the United Kingdom. Surveys coordinated by the British Association for the Study of CommunityDentistry in 1998/99, COMM DENT H, 17(1), 2000, pp. 48-53
Design This paper reports the results of standardised clinical caries exami
nations of 121,550 14-year-old children from across the United Kingdom, Jer
sey and the Isle of Man. These 1998/99 coordinated surveys are the latest i
n a series which seeks to monitor the dental health of children and to asse
ss the delivery of dental services. Method The criteria and conventions of
the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry were used. Rep
resentative samples were drawn from participating health authorities and bo
ards and caries was diagnosed at the caries into dentine (D-3) threshold us
ing a visual method without radiography or Fibreoptic transillumination. Re
sults These demonstrated, once again, a wide variation in prevalence across
the United Kingdom, with mean values for D3MFT For the current English reg
ional offices (of the National Health Service) and the other UK countries r
anging from 1.17 in West Midlands to 3.65 in Northern Ireland. The mean val
ue for D3MFT across the United Kingdom was 1.76 (D3T=0.59, MT=0.15, FT=1.02
). Overall, 54% of children had evidence of caries experience at the dentin
al level (D3MFT > 0), although the means ranged between 43% (South East) an
d 78% (Northern Ireland). The mean D3MFT for those with disease at this thr
eshold was 3.24. Trends over time demonstrate an improvement of 10% in over
all D3MFT for Great Britain since 1994/95, compared to the 21% seen over th
e previous four year period. Over recent years the overall trend in this ag
e group seems to be towards lower values. However, there has been no improv
ement in mean MT since 1994/95, while FT and carl index have Fallen. The nu
mber of fillings provided in 1998/99 and thus the care index, remains low,
on average across the UK, only 58% of the dentinal caries experience identi
fied by survey examinations of permanent teeth was seen as fillings (range
in individual districts and boards: 34% to 83%). Conclusion Taken together,
these findings demonstrate the continuing need for more effective preventi
ve strategies and treatment services for this important age group.