The hustle and bustle of city life may be causing Londoners to neglect their teeth, according to a survey conducted by the British Dental Health Foundation and HealthSure.

The National Dental Survey found that one in three people living in London admitted to never brushing their teeth for long enough, and this statistic was three times higher in London than in some places in the country and almost twice as high as the national average.

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, commented, “It is very worrying to think that people in London are struggling to even find the time to brush their teeth properly.”

In the survey, only 11% of people in Southampton usually brushed for less than two minutes while other scores were: Newcastle (23%), Cambridge (20%), Manchester (14%), Cardiff (14%), Bristol (14%), Belfast (15%), Nottingham (18%) and Edinburgh (24%).

The National Dental Survey was conducted as part of the National Smile Month (May 14 – June 13) celebrations and the Foundation and HealthSure are hoping people will use the campaign to consider how they can improve their current oral health routine.