Non-carious conditions
Over half of 5 year olds have tooth surface loss
Proportion of 5 year olds with Tooth Surface Loss (TSL) on the primary incisors
The 2003 Children's Dental Health Survey found just over half of 5 year old children (53 per cent) with Tooth Surface Loss (TSL) on one or more primary incisor. The lingual surfaces of the children's incisors were most frequently affected.
A quarter or more of 12 and 15 year olds had some TSL on the lingual surfaces of the upper permanent incisors. One fifth of 12 and 15 year olds had evidence of TSL on the first permanent molars.
The proportion of children with tooth surface loss on either primary or permanent incisors was similar to that found in the 1993 survey.
Just over a third of 12 year old children in the United Kingdom were found to have opacities of tooth enamel on one or more teeth. Demarcated and diffuse opacities occurred in 17 per cent and 16 per cent of cases respectively. Of those children with diffuse enamel defects almost two-thirds (65 per cent) were symmetrical defects.
The proportion of children sustaining accidental damage to permanent incisors fell from 1993 among 12 and 15 year olds. In 1993, 17 per cent of both 12 and 15 year olds had some accidental damage compared to 11 per cent of 12 year olds and 13 per cent of 15 year olds in 2003. The decline was most pronounced among 12 year old boys, with the proportion having accidental damage falling from 25 per cent in 1993 to 14 per cent in 2003. Among 12 and 15 year olds, boys were more likely to damage their incisors than girls.
At all ages the majority of accidental damage remained untreated. The highest levels of treatment were at age 15, when 27 per cent of damaged incisors had been treated.
Notes: The 2003 Children's Dental Health Survey, commissioned by the four UK Health Departments, is the fourth in a series of national children’s dental health surveys that have been carried out every 10 years since 1973 in England and Wales and in the whole of the UK since 1983.
Tooth surface loss (TSL) is pathological non-carious loss of tooth tissues resulting from - chemical action not involving bacteria (erosion), or - wear due to tooth-to-tooth contact during chewing or grinding of teeth - physical wear caused by factors other than tooth-to-tooth contact, for example toothbrushing (abrasion)
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