Key Points
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Highlights regular dental attendance in 2009 was 61%, illustrating a long-term increase since 1968, associated with improved oral health-related behaviours.
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Reports that only 9% of adults have been given advice on quitting smoking by any member of the dental team.
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Recounts that cost influenced choice of dental treatment for 26% of adults.
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Stresses 12% of adults have extreme dental anxiety.
Abstract
The importance of understanding barriers to dental attendance of adults in the UK was acknowledged in the first Adult Dental Health Survey in 1968 and has been investigated in all subsequent ADH surveys. In 1968, approximately 40% of dentate adults said they attended for a regular check-up; by 2009 this was 61%. Attendance patterns were associated with greater frequency of toothbrushing, use of additional dental hygiene products, lower plaque and calculus levels. Just under three-fifths of adults said they had tried to make an NHS dental appointment in the previous five years. The vast majority (92%) successfully received and attended an appointment, while a further 1% received an appointment but did not attend. The remaining 7% of adults were unable to make an appointment with an NHS dentist. The majority of adults were positive about their last visit to the dentist, with 80% of adults giving no negative feedback about their last dentist visit. Cost and anxiety were important barriers to care. Twenty-six percent of adults said the type of treatment they had opted for in the past had been affected by the cost and 19% said they had delayed dental treatment for the same reason. The 2009 survey data demonstrated a relationship between dental anxiety and dental attendance. Adults with extreme dental anxiety were more likely to attend only when they had trouble with their teeth (22%) than for a regular check-up.
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Acknowledgements
This study was commissioned by the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care and was conducted on behalf of the Department of Health in England, the Welsh Assembly Health Department and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland. The Survey was managed by the Office for National Statistics with a major contribution from The National Centre for Social Research. We would like to thank all of the specialists and colleagues who contributed from both organisations and also Dr Nigel Nuttall who has made such a huge contribution to the questionnaire element of the national survey series over the last 15 years. Our thanks also go to the field teams of dentists and recorders who undertook the examinations and interviews around the country, whose enthusiasm and work ethic often extended beyond the call of duty. Not least we are grateful to the 11,380 individuals who gave their time as survey participants.
Adult Dental Health Survey 2009 – The Health and Social Care Information Centre, Leeds. Copyright ©2011, Re-used with the permission of the Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.
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Hill, K., Chadwick, B., Freeman, R. et al. Adult Dental Health Survey 2009: relationships between dental attendance patterns, oral health behaviour and the current barriers to dental care. Br Dent J 214, 25–32 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2012.1176
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2012.1176
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