Dental attendance in 1998 and implications for the future

The 1998 survey of Adult Dental Health in the UK was carried out under the auspices of the Office of National Statistics together with the Universitie s of Birmingham, Dundee, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Wales. A key behavioural i ndicator in these decennial surveys is whether people say they go to a dent ist for a regular dental check-up, an occasional dental check-up or only wh en they have trouble with their teeth. The proportion of dentate adults in the UK who report attending for regular dental check-ups has risen from 43% in 1978 to 59% in 1998, Older adults lover 55 years old) in 1998 were the most likely to say they attend for regular dental check-ups. Many younger a dults (16-24) in 1998 said they went to a dentist less often than 5 years p reviously, they were also the least likely to say they attend for regular d ental check-ups, Dental anxiety remains a problem for many dental patients but another factor of importance to many is their want to be involved in th e treatment process and especially to be given an estimate of treatment cos ts.