The Nation’s Oral Health is Making Progress – Backwards
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- Published: Friday, 19 December 2025 10:27
- Written by Peter Ingle
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The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) founded in 1969, is the largest independent and not-for-profit social research organisation in the UK. It‘s report on the most recent Adult Oral Health Survey (AOHS) makes for depressing reading.
The survey, carried out in 2023, provided the first clinical picture of adult oral health in England for more than a decade.
New official statistics have shown that tooth decay has risen sharply since the last survey in 2009. This has wiped out previous improvements and returned decay levels towards those last seen in the late 1990s. The survey also highlighted the human cost of poor oral health as it impacts on quality of life. It also confirmed that there are persistent inequalities, and challenges in accessing dental services.
Amongst the key findings :
- Four in ten adults with natural teeth had obvious tooth decay when examined (41%). This compares with 28% in 2009 and is similar to levels seen in 1998.
- The impacts on daily life have increased. 43% reported that their oral health had negatively impacted on their daily life, a rise since 2009 when the figure was 33%.
- Almost one in five adults (19%) had at least one potentially urgent oral health condition, including dental pain, deep decay involving the pulp or one or more PUFA
signs. The PUFA scale includes conditions such as advanced caries or sepsis, and the need for treatment.
As would be expected given the many stories of dental deserts and DIY dentistry, the survey highlighted the effects of the access crisis, with regular dental attendance having fallen. In the latest survey, 52% of dentate adults said their usual reason for attending was a check-up, which was down from 61% in 2009.
Barriers to care were common among those attending infrequently, including being unable to find a dentist (40%), being unable to afford charges (31%) and not perceiving a need to go (27%).
Adults in more deprived areas had higher levels of disease, more pain, poorer quality of life and were less likely to attend a dentist regularly than those in more affluent areas.
On the positive side, very few adults now have no natural teeth. Only 2.5% reported having none, down from 6% in 2009.
NatCen’s conclusion focussed on legislation as a route to prevention: “This presents a considerable public health challenge and is an area that we need to look at as a priority. Decay is caused by sugar and we need prevention strategies which address that, such as the recent planned extension of the sugar levy to high-sugar drinks including milk-based drinks.”
The British Dental Association described the results as “damning” and noted that levels of tooth decay among adults in England are now similar to those last seen more than 25 years ago.
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: “Hard won gains on oral health are going into reverse. Government need to double down - and deliver promised reforms and vital investment.” His by now familiar conclusion: “Without real commitment NHS dentistry won’t have a future and the nation’s oral health gap will widen further.”
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