Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the rates of tooth decay among children in England in each of the last ten years.

The former National Health Service Dental Epidemiology Programme collected data in 2007/08 and 2011/12 for five year olds. It showed 31% and 28% were affected by tooth decay respectively. The programme also collected data for 12 year olds in 2008/09 and found 33% were affected by dental decay.

For all age groups, no data are available for 2010 and 2011.

The 2013 Child Dental Health Survey collected data on five year olds, eight year olds, 12 year olds and 15 year olds. It showed that: 31% of five year olds; 49% of eight year olds; 37% of 12 year olds and 44% of 15 year olds are affected by dental decay.

Data on three year olds was collected in 2012/13 by Public Health England (PHE) Dental Public Health Intelligence Programme and this shows that 12% of three year olds are affected by dental decay.

In 2013/14 PHE Oral Health Survey collected data on five year olds and 12 year olds attending special support schools which shows that, in England, 22% of five year olds and 29% of 12 year olds attending special support schools had experience of obvious dental decay.

In 2014/15 PHE Dental Public Health Intelligence Programme collected data on five year old and this shows that 25% of five year olds are affected by dental decay.

Results from the latest oral health survey of five year old children in England will be published in the oral health survey of five-year-old children 2016-17 report by Public Health England by June 2018.