HC Deb 20 July 1972 vol 841 c151W
Miss Quennell

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is now the incidence of dental caries among schoolchildren of primary age and secondary age, respectively, compared with 10 and five years ago.

Mrs. Thatcher

Information which is available from the quinquennial sample survey of 5-year-old and 12-year-old children carried out by school dental officers has shown that the incidence of dental caries in terms of the average number of teeth found to be decayed, extracted or missing, or already filled, at the time of the examination was as follows:

1958 1963 1968
5-year-olds 5.7 5.1 4.5
12-year-olds 5.5 5.6 5.5