GovWire

The results of the oral health survey of 5 year old children 2022 show:

• disparities at both regional and local authority levels for both prevalence and severity of dentinal decay
• overall 23.7% of 5 year old children in England had experience of obvious dentinal decay. This was similar to the finding of the previous survey of 5 year olds in 2019, where 23.4% of the surveyed children had experience of dentinal decay

This survey takes place every 2 years in order to collect oral health information of 5 year olds who attend mainstream, state-funded schools across England. This current survey was delayed from 2020 to 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was carried out as part of the OHID National Dental Epidemiology Programme.

The aim of the survey was to measure the prevalence and severity of dentinal caries among 5 year old children within each lower-tier local authority. This was to provide information to local authorities, the NHS and other partners on the oral health of children in their local areas and to highlight any inequalities.