Jimmy Steele delivers BDA Anniversary Lecture
- Details
- Published: Monday, 10 August 2015 07:17
- Written by News Editor
- Hits: 6390
The British Dental Association (BDA) has reported that Professor Jimmy Steele gave a thought-provoking lecture on oral health care in a changing world at the BDJ/BDA's anniversary lecture in London on the 2 July. Addressing a full lecture theatre, he said that although there has been a profound reduction in the prevalence of tooth decay, major inequalities still exist across the UK.
In his lecture, Oral health, epidemiology and the British way of life, Professor Steele highlighted that the decay experience of 15-year olds surveyed in 1983 was over 90 per cent but this had fallen to around 40 per cent in 2013, when the last survey of this cohort was carried out. At the other end of the age spectrum, the percentage of people who were edentulous – have no teeth – by the age of 74 fell from around 80 per cent in 1968 to circa 30 per cent in 2008; and these figures are projected to fall to around 15 per cent by 2028.
Professor Steele observed that these improvements have consequences for the way dentists are trained and dentist's roles and working lives in the future. For example, he pointed out there were a lot of sepsis and extractions in 1968 and therefore lots of dentures had to be made, compared to the situation now with relatively few dentures needing to be made by dental graduates during their training.
He asked the audience if they thought these improvements would allow us to see a caries-free Britain in the future and concluded that, unfortunately, this wasn't likely. He drew attention to the 15-year olds who get caries today and are concentrated in the lower-income groups, with surveys showing a dramatic doubling of decay experience in those who are eligible for free meals. And the average number of decayed teeth in this cohort has barely shifted in the decade from 2003 to 2013. "Inequality appears to be getting more pronounced," he said, "but we will not be able to treat away the difference."
The BDJ/BDA's anniversary lecture celebrated the 135th anniversary of the founding of the Association and places were free to BDA members, assigned by a ballot process. The event was sponsored by Henry Schein Dental. The lecture was filmed and will be made available for free to all BDA members via a webcast soon.
You need to be logged in to leave comments.
Report