The condition of teeth in the UK in 1998 and implications for the future

The latest of the decennial surveys of the United Kingdom was undertaken in 1998 by the Office of National Statistics in collaboration with the dental schools of the Universities of Birmingham, Dundee, Newcastle and Wales, De ntate adults in 1998 have fewer missing teeth and more sound and untreated teeth on average than in 1978, The average number of decayed teeth has drop ped significantly from 1.9 in 1978 to 1.1 in 1998. The average number of fi lled teeth has remained fairly constant over the same time but its distribu tion has changed quite markedly towards older adults having more filled tee th than people of a similar age in the past whilst the reverse is true for younger adults. The overall trends are encouraging, but there is a need to review the way disease is managed in adults in the United Kingdom.