HC Deb 01 May 1996 vol 276 cc518-9W
Mr. Llwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of five-year-old children in England had dental caries in(a) 1990, (b) 1992 and (c) 1995; and if he will make a statement. [27417]

Mr. Malone

Every two years, the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry conducts a survey of dental caries prevalence in children aged five throughout Great Britain. It has found that the mean percentage of five-year-old children in England for whom there is evidence of caries experience in 1989–90 was 46.5 per cent. and in 1991–92 was 40.7 per cent. Figures for 1995–96 will not be available until March 1997.