The oral health of adults attending dental practices in England in 2018: a report of a novel method and findings

Introduction National surveys of the oral health of adults are conducted decennially. For reasons of feasibility and cost, these only provide accurate information at large geographical areas. To address this, a survey of adults attending dental practices in England was undertaken. Aim To describe and discuss the survey method and findings. Method A clinical examination and questionnaire survey was conducted in a sample of English dental practices. Results Questionnaires (n = 16,572) and clinical examinations (n = 14,270) were completed with patients from 1,173 dental practices. Poorer oral health disproportionately affected older adults and those from more socioeconomically deprived areas. Over one in three from more deprived areas had untreated caries compared with one in five in the less deprived (36.2% vs 19.9%) and impacts of oral problems were nearly three times higher in the more deprived areas (27.9% vs 11.0%). Of those receiving NHS care, 28.7% and 46.2% reported they would struggle/be unable to pay a Band 2 and Band 3 NHS patient charge, respectively. Conclusion It is feasible to undertake a survey of adults in dental practices but care must be taken generalising the findings to the general population and comparing them with other surveys undertaken using different methods.