The dental caries experience of 5-year-old children in the United Kingdom. Surveys coordinated by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry in 1995/96.

This paper reports the results of standardised clinical caries examinations of 172,659 five-year-old children from across the United Kingdom. These 1995/96 coordinated surveys are the latest in a series which seek to monitor the dental health of children and to assess the delivery of dental services. The criteria and conventions of the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry were used. Representative samples were drawn from participating Health Authorities and Boards and caries was diagnosed at the caries into dentine (d3) threshold using a visual method without radiography or fibre-optic transillumination. The results demonstrated once again a wide variation in prevalence across the United Kingdom, with mean values for d3 mft for the current English regions (of the National Health Service) and the other UK territories ranging from 1.08 in the West Midlands to 3.04 in Northern Ireland. The mean value for d3mft across the United Kingdom was 1.84 (d3t = 1.32, mt = 0.30, ft = 0.22). Overall, 44 per cent of children had evidence of caries experience at the dentinal level of detection (d3mft > 0), although the means ranged between 33 per cent (West Midlands) and 63 per cent (Northern Ireland). Trends over time demonstrate a modest improvement of 6.7 per cent in overall d3mft for Great Britain since 1993/94, compared with the modest deterioration seen two years previously. Over recent years the overall trend in this age group seems to be flat, with evidence that there are minor deviations above and below a plateau value. However, there have been some changes. Both dt and the proportion with d > 0 have increased while ft and care index have fallen. The number of fillings provided in 1995/96, and thus the care index, remain low (UK mean care index = 12 per cent, regional/country means range from 8-20 per cent). These findings demonstrate the continuing need for more effective preventive and treatment services for this important age group.