Cwestiwn ysgrifenedig WQ83988

Regular epidemiological surveys are usually undertaken for children at ages five and 12 to understand the level of tooth decay in primary and secondary dentition of children in Wales.

A dental epidemiological survey of three-year-old children was carried out in 2013-14 to understand the level of tooth decay in pre-school children and then to inform oral health promotion. The survey showed the proportion of three-year olds in Wales with at least one tooth affected by decay was 14.5%. The full report, including data at health board area level, is available here: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/86546/First-report-for-WG-3yo-survey-2013-14v3.pdf

Designed to Smile (D2S) has been available in Wales for more than 10 years. Funded by Welsh Government, the national programme works in partnership with nurseries, schools and other professional groups to prevent childhood dental disease.

A review of the impact of Designed to Smile, published in the journal BDJ Team, noted that the most recent survey of five-year-olds in Wales reported a reduction in the proportion of children with tooth decay between 2007-08 (47.6%) and 2015-16 (34.2%).

The authors stated: “Although not possible to determine causality, this reduction in disease level coincided with the inception of the D2S programme in 2009 and was noted as constituting the 'first significant and sustained improvement in the levels of dental caries experienced by children in Wales since records began'.

“In 2007-08, 14 out of a class of 30 children would have decay experience, and these 14 children would have an average of 4.2 teeth affected.

“By 2015-16 this had fallen to 10 children out of a class of 30, and these 10 would have an average of 3.6 decayed teeth. The oral health of children in Wales improved across all social groups, with the most deprived WIMD quintile seeing the largest reduction in decay prevalence (by 15%) and mean dmft [decayed, missing, filled teeth] score (by 0.6).

“The most recent survey of 12-year-olds in Wales reported a 15% reduction in prevalence of dental decay from 45% in 2005-06 to 30% in 2016-17.”

The pandemic has had significant impact on the dental epidemiology programme undertaken by Public Health Wales and the ongoing 5-year-olds survey has been paused.

It is hoped data will be collected in the next academic year (September 2022 onward). There is also a tentative plan to survey 12-year-old children (year 7) to understand tooth decay levels in permanent dentition. These two surveys should provide a picture of whether the improving trend in the oral health of children in Wales has continued, halted or reversed as a result of the pandemic.