HC Deb 24 February 1994 vol 238 cc413-4W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of five-year-old children in Wales had experience of dental decay(a) in 1990 and (b) in 1993; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

Information is available from the biennial survey of five-year-olds in Great Britain conducted by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry. The most recent survey related to the financial year 1991–92 when 60 per cent. of five-year-old children in Wales had experience of dental decay. The figure for 1989, the date of the previous survey, was 57 per cent.

Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table indicating for five-year-old children for(a) 1991 and (b) the most recent date for which information is available, the average number of teeth suffering from dental decay, analysed by region for Wales.

Mr. Gwilym Jones

The latest available information, which relates to the financial year 1991–92, is given in the following table. The figures are taken from the biennial survey of five-year-olds in Great Britain conducted by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry.

Average number of teeth with dental decay in five-year-old children
Number
Clwyd 1.43
East Dyfed 2.09
Gwent 2.31
Gwynedd 1.44
Mid Glamorgan 2.10
Pembrokeshire 1.49
Powys 1.39
South Glamorgan 1.67
West Glamorgan 2.08
Wales 1.92