The dental caries experience of 5-year-old children in Great Britain. Surveys coordinated by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry in 1999/2000

Objective This paper reports the results of standardised clinical car irs e xaminations of 199,440 5-year-old children from across Great Britain. These 1999/2000 coordinated surveys are the latest in a series which seek to mon itor the dental health of children and to assess the delivery of dental ser vices. Method The criteria and conventions of the British Association for t he Study of Community Dentistry were used. Representative samples were draw n from participating health authorities and boards and caries was diagnosed at the caries into dentine threshold using a visual method without radiogr aphy or fibre-optic transillumination. Results The results again demonstrat ed a wide variation in prevalence across Britain, with mean values for d(3) mft for the current English regions (of the National Health Service) and fo r Wales ansd Scotland ranging from 0.94 in the West Midlands to 2.55 in Sco tland. Mean d(3)mft accross Great Britain was 1.57 (d(3)t=1.14, mt=0.22, ft =0.21). Overall, 40% of children had evidence of dentinal caries experience (d(3)mft >0), although the means ranged between 30% (West Midlands) and 55 % (Scotland). The distribution of caries was highly skewed. Thus the Britis h mean caries experience for those with the disease was 3.88, as opposed to the overall mean of 1.57. Trends over time demonstrate a modest improvemen t of 4% in overall d(3)mft for Britain since 1997/98, compared with the 8.6 % improvement seen for the two previous years. All three components with dm ft have also Fallen. The care index has remained virtually unchanged in Bri tain as a whole (13.6% in 1999/2000. compared to 13.9% in 1997/8). Regional /country means for 1999/2000 ranged from 8-20%. This indicator has not, how ever, regained the levels seen in the past. Conclusion There has been some improvement in the dental health of 5-year-old children. Overall, the provi sion of operative care for those with dental decay has not changed: signifi cant groups remain within the population of 5-year-old children who have de ntal disease and who are in need of dental care.