Half of parents say their children haven’t visited a dentist by age three

• New research shows parents would welcome more oral health education, with almost four in ten (37%) thinking it should be taught in schools.

• The new data from Denplan’s Oral Health Survey 2024 comes as tooth decay remains the most common reason for hospital admissions in children aged 6-10.

• The report surveyed over 5,000 adults, making it one of the largest surveys of dental habits in Great Britain.

• Denplan works with the charity Dentaid to provide oral health education in schools across the country via BrightBites.

  
  

As tooth decay remains the most common reason for hospital admissions in children aged 6-10*, new research suggests half (50%) of parents haven’t taken their children to the dentist by the time they are three years old, despite official guidance recommending they are taken when their first milk teeth appear, usually at six months.

Denplan’s Oral Health Survey 2024, published today, reveals that only 45% of parents said they have taken or planned to take their children to the dentist before they turn three years old. NHS guidance recommends taking a child to the dentist when their baby teeth appear, so the dentist can identify any oral health problems at an early stage, advise on how to prevent tooth decay, and get children familiar with going to a dentist.

One in five (21%) parents say their children brush less than twice per day or not at all, up from one in seven (14%) in 2023.

Parents welcomed further education on oral healthcare habits, with 86% agreeing that good habits should be taught in childhood to improve health for life. Almost four in ten parents (37%) think the government should implement oral health education in schools to help tackle the current children’s dental crisis. School-supervised toothbrushing – a policy teased by Labour ahead of the election – would be welcomed by almost half of parents (49%).

However, when questioned on whose responsibility it is, the vast majority of parents (89%) think they should be responsible for supervised toothbrushing, with only 29% saying teachers were responsible for their children’s oral health.

The report surveyed over 5,000 adults making it one of the largest surveys of the dental habits in Great Britain.

Denplan provides payment plans for the cost of both adult and child dental treatment to help people budget and spread the cost of private dentistry. It also works with the charity Dentaid to provide oral health education in schools across the country via the BrightBites programme.
 

Catherine Rutland, dentist and clinical director at Denplan, said:

“Many parents are also unaware that brushing should still be supervised by an adult every day until children are over seven years old to be confident they’re doing it correctly.”

“It's important to offer quality oral health education in primary schools, but our research shows that it cannot be relied on as the only solution if children only benefit four or five years after their first teeth appear. We need a far wider public health education campaign and a long-term solution that gives every child access to a local dentist. To improve access, the government must address the shortage of dentists in the workforce and commit to reforms of the NHS contract.”

“With many people reporting they can’t afford to go to the dentist, it’s imperative we support them financially, whether as individuals or through their employers. We hear from our customers they really appreciate having the ability to claim back the cost of any dental treatment via the cover provided on our health plans, and those who have a payment plan with their dentist say it helps them spread the cost and budget for treatment. Many dentists who treat parents for a cost will treat children for free, as well as offering advice on how good habits prevent problems occurring later in life.”

Andy Evans, CEO of Dentaid, said:

“Every day we see the impact of poor dental health at our charity dental clinics and the effect this has on our patients’ confidence, prospects and wellbeing. We know that instilling knowledge about the importance of dental health from an early age is critically important. The joy of BrightBites is that it’s an innovative, fun-filled programme that can be delivered by anyone at schools, nurseries and community groups across the UK – focused on areas of social deprivation.  The children learn so much from the sessions and ask lots of questions, which really helps them to grasp knowledge about the importance of healthy diets, toothbrushing and going to see the dentist.  We are very proud to be working with Denplan on this project and we’re excited to see it grow and reach new communities.”

To mark the launch of this year’s report, Denplan ran a BrightBites workshop with Dentaid, teaching children about oral healthcare at school. Videos and photos from the session are available here.

BrightBites, Denplan’s partnership with Dentaid, The Dental Charity, aims to reach 90,000 school-aged children through a fun and engaging oral healthcare education programme. Programme locations are chosen based on social indicators such as the number of children receiving free school meals, which aligns with BrightBites’ mission to target schools in lower socio-economic areas.

The full Oral Health Survey is available here.

Deltapoll interviewed 5,035 adults in Great Britain online between 2nd and 7th August 2024. The data have been weighted to be representative of the British adult population as a whole.

For further information please contact:

Steven Pearson on [email protected], 07740432889, or [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

* According to Office for Health Improvement & Disparities

About Denplan and Simplyhealth:

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