Sir, the 2009 Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) is the fifth in a series of national dental surveys that have been carried out every ten years since 1968. It covers the adult population in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since Scotland decided not to participate in the ADHS 2009, it has been impossible to make any UK wide comparisons.1

Bespoke analyses, however, were carried out across a small number of measures using the data from the ADHS 2009 and the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) in 20082 and 2009.3 These comparisons were recorded on Excel spreadsheets which can be accessed from the Health and Social Care Information Centre website.4

In 1972, the level of total tooth loss among the Scottish population was 44%.5 By the time of the SHeS 2009, the figure for this population had dropped to 12%.3 Nevertheless this figure for Scotland3 is still worse than those for the rest of the UK (England 6%, Wales 10%, Northern Ireland 7%).4

In Scotland, the target of the 2005 Dental Action Plan was that 90% of all adults would possess some natural teeth by 2010.6 The SHeS reports in 20107 and 20118 noted that the proportion of all adults possessing some natural teeth was 89% and 90% respectively. This means that the Scottish target has been met in 2011.

In 2009, 71% of the adult population in Scotland had 20 or more natural teeth.3 Compared to the rest of the UK, this figure3 is also lower (England 81%, Wales 73%, Northern Ireland 77%).4 Subsequent SHeS reports have shown that the percentage of all adults with 20 or more natural teeth increased by one percentage point each year, from 72% in 20107 to 73% in 2011.8

This implies that oral health has improved steadily for the adult population in Scotland. A greater proportion of adults has now retained their teeth and maintained a minimum functional dentition. These could be attributed to the following key initiatives in Scotland:

  • Development of oral health promotion programmes

  • Introduction of free dental checks for adults

  • Changes to the structure of dental services for adults including extending dental registration

  • Opening of a new dental school in Aberdeen, and steps to attract more dental professionals to work in Scotland.