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A new report by Public Health Wales (PHW) reveals the latest dental survey of five-year-old children in Wales.

The survey was undertaken by the Welsh Oral Health Information Unit, as part of the NHS dental survey programme.

The report shows a reduction in the proportion of children with decay between 2007-2008 (47.6%) and 2015-2016 (34.2%).

PHW says this represents a continuing improvement in the proportion of children who have no obvious decay experience by age five.

In 2015-2016, in a class of 30 children, a total of 20 will have no decay experience, compared with16 decay-free children in a class of 30 children in 2007-2008.

The all-Wales mean decay experience (decayed missing and filled teeth - dmft) has also continued to fall, from 1.98 in 2007-2008 to 1.22 in 2015-2016.

This represents a 38% reduction in mean dmft scores within nine years, says the report.

In 2007-2008, a total of 14 children out of a class size of 30 would have decay, with an average of 4.2 teeth affected.

However, by 2015-2016, this had fallen to ten children out of a class of 30, with an average of 3.6 decayed teeth.

The survey also found that dental disease levels in children in Wales continue to improve across all social groups.

In absolute terms, the most deprived fifth of children in Wales have seen the largest reduction in decay prevalence – by 15%.

The report says there is no evidence of widening inequalities.

Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said:

“I’m pleased to see the continued progress in improving children’s oral health.

“It’s clear that our Designed to Smile programme is making a real impact in improving the oral health of children across Wales – but we know that we have to continue seeing these improvements.

“As a government, we are fully committed to tackling all forms of inequality, so I’m particularly pleased to see that children from the most deprived backgrounds are seeing the biggest reduction in tooth decay.”

Chief Dental Officer for Wales, Dr Colette Bridgeman, added:

“Although we’ve seen great improvements in tooth decay in school year 1 children over the last decade or so, there is scope for further improvement for the third of children still experiencing tooth decay.

“We know that dental decay starts early – typically, half of the decay experienced at five years of age will be evident by age three.

“Therefore, primary intervention will have most impact before the age of three, so we are re-focusing Designed to Smile on the 0-5 age group – restating the overarching aim of the programme to keep children decay free by the age of five.”

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