One third of adults said the cost of dental care had affected the type of treatment they had, with a quarter having to delay treatment for this reason.
This is according to new statistics published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) on 25 January. To collect the data, OHID polled 6,343 adults in England on the topic of oral health.
Two thirds of participants reported having good or very good oral health. Roughly one quarter (27%) said their oral health was fair and 7% said it was bad or very bad.
Almost half (47%) described experiencing one or more negative consequences of poor oral health. Most common among these was feeling self-conscious (28%), experiencing discomfort when eating (24%) and painful aching (20%).
Around one in five (21%) said they had experienced at least one severe impact that had affected their daily life. These people commonly avoided laughing, smiling and otherwise showing their teeth. They were also likely to experience difficulty with eating.
Among the dentate respondents, the average number of natural teeth was 25.4, with 5% total having no natural teeth at all. Over three quarters (77%) of those who still had natural teeth stated that they brushed them twice daily accordance with guidance. Nearly six in 10 (59%) of the respondents who brushed their teeth used an electric toothbrush.
Why don’t adults regularly visit a dentist?
The poll also examined the participants’ dental attendance habits. Around two thirds (63%) of respondents said they regularly went to the dentist for check-ups. A further 15% went for occasional check-ups, and 18% only went to the dentist when they were experiencing problems. A total of 4% had never been to the dentist before.
These figures were broken down further by demographic. For example, women (68%) were more likely than men (57%) to say they regularly attended the dentist. Those who had a lower household income were least likely to report regular dental attendance.
The study also explored the reasons for not visiting a dentist. They included:
- No need to go to the dentist/nothing wrong with their teeth (50%)
- Could not afford the cost (34%)
- Kept forgetting / did not get round to it (23%)
- Afraid of going to the dentist (19%)
- Bad experiences with the dentist (15%)
- Could not find a dentist (12%)
- Did not have the time to go (12%)
- Difficult to get to and from the dentist (3%).
Why do patients choose private care?
Another topic covered by the poll was the type of dental care that adults in England had received. Nearly half (48%) had received paid NHS care, while 22% reported receiving wholly private care. Those who had received private care gave the following reasons:
- To receive a better quality of care (32%)
- Unable to find an NHS dentist (25%)
- Their NHS dentist had ‘gone private’ (19%)
- Better reputation of the surgery or a recommendation (19%)
- Practice location (18%)
- Shorter waiting times (15%)
- More types of treatment available (11%)
- More convenient opening times (7%)
- Insurance provided by their employer (5%).
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