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

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.