Oral health: children - inequalities data
Deprivation
Data are analysed using the 'Scotland level' Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) population-weighted quintiles.
Chart 1a [32Kb] shows the percentage of Primary 7 (11-year-old) children in Scotland with no obvious decay experience, by SIMD quintile (2009-2023). In 2023, 71.9% of P7 children in SIMD1 (most deprived areas) showed no evidence of obvious decay experience, compared with 88.0% in SIMD5 (least deprived areas).
Chart 1b [30Kb] shows a clear difference in dental health among Primary 1 (5-year-old) children across the SIMD quintiles. In 2024, 60.1% of P1 children in SIMD1 showed no evidence of obvious decay experience, compared with 83.6% in SIMD5.
Data sourced from the National Dental Inspection Programme NDIP publications - Primary 7 (2023) and Primary 1 (2024). PHS did not publish an NDIP report in 2021 as the programme was paused in March 2020 and did not take place in the academic year 2020/21. NDIP was partially remobilised for the academic year 2021/22 and an abbreviated report was published in October 2022.
Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.
