Scottish Government

Improve Children's Dental Health

DESCRIPTION:

This indicator measures the percentage of P1 children receiving a detailed dental inspection as part of the National Dental Inspection Programme of Scotland who had no obvious decay experience.

The indicator monitors dental health in 5 year old children and provides indication of the success of pre-school dental programmes as well as being seen as a wider indicator of good early years care.

SOURCE:

A report on the National Dental Inspection Programme of Scotland (NDIP) is published annually at

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Dental-Care/National-Dental-Inspection-Programme/

This is a direct measure based on detailed inspection of a sample of children. Around 20% of the population of P1 children in Local Authority funded schools receive a detailed inspection every second year and the majority receive a basic inspection every year. The figures for the indicator are based on the results of the detailed inspection.

The report for the 2015/16 school year was published in October 2016. P1 children receive detailed inspections every second year, with P7s inspected in the alternate years. The figure for the indicator is therefore produced biennially, with the next update expected in late 2018.

DEFINITIONS:

The children inspected for this indicator are in primary 1 in Local Authority schools.

Tooth decay - obvious decay experience, i.e. decay that can be seen to go into the dentine or pulp of the tooth, or filled or extracted teeth.

The Detailed Inspection is a rigorous and comprehensive assessment that involves recording the status of each surface of each tooth in accordance with international epidemiological conventions. This contrasts with the basic inspection involving a simple assessment of the mouth of each child using a light, mirror and ball-ended probe whereby dental status found in each child is then placed into one of three categories.

BASELINE AND PAST TRENDS:

In keeping with general practice on Scotland Performs the baseline for this indicator is the last data point available prior to the current administration coming into power. In this case the baseline refers to 2005/06 inspections, when 54% of P1 children had no evidence of dental caries.

Prior to 2003, the data source for related information was the Scottish Health Boards' Dental Epidemiological Programme (SHBDEP) 1987-2001. This had a smaller sample size than the current survey, but was also based around standard oral examinations.

Percentage of children in P1 with no signs of tooth decay

CRITERIA FOR RECENT CHANGE ARROW:

This evaluation is based on: any difference within +/- 1 percentage point of the previous detailed inspection suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change. An increase of 1 percentage point or more suggests the position is improving; whereas a decrease of 1 percentage point or more suggests the position is worsening. This assessment of change is conditional on using data from the biennial survey.

For information on general methodological approach, please click here.

FUTURE ISSUES OR REVIEWS:

No issues.

ASSOCIATED TARGET:

No associated target.