Adult dental health 2017
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Dental public health epidemiology programme. Oral health survey of adults attending general dental practices 2017–18
IRAS ID
233971
Contact name
G M Davies
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health England
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Approximately every ten years an oral health survey of adults is conducted in parts of the UK. These surveys provide valuable information on a breadth of oral health related outcomes from lengthy questionnaires and detailed dental examinations of volunteers. It is not possible within the framework of these decennial surveys to have sufficiently large sample sizes to offer locally relevant and representative findings. Whilst there is good information available about child oral health, currently there is no information available at a local level about adult dental health in the UK. This is an important gap for planning of oral healthcare services; and for finding and addressing inequalities in oral health. Whilst surveys of child oral health are relatively straightforward through nurseries and schools, representative samples of adults are harder to achieve. However, it is known that most of the adult population of the UK go to a dentist.
This study aims to collect information about adult oral health from those attending general dental practices. In randomly sampled practices who agree to take part, patients will be approached at the practice by the study team either before or after their appointment and invited to participate that same day to complete a short questionnaire and have a very brief dental examination. When dentists submit a claim for NHS treatment payment they are asked to include a note of the number of teeth with decay, fillings or which are missing. Permission from patients and dentists will also be requested to share this data.
The study will establish baseline learning about the feasibility of collecting routine information about the oral health of adult patients in general dental practices and assess the validity and utility of this method.
This will provide local, relevant intelligence for local authorities and NHS commissioners about the populations they serve.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1594
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion