Oral Health

JSNA > Starting Well

Oral health is complex and is a key sign of overall health, well-being, and quality of life. It includes a range of diseases and conditions that include dental caries (decay), periodontal (gum) disease, tooth loss, oral cancer, dental trauma, and birth defects such as cleft lip and palate. It also impacts our ability to speak and smile.

The documents we publish on this page are either legally required to be made available for inspection, for information and analysis purposes or may have been supplied by the public and so in some cases may not be fully accessible. If, for any reason, you cannot access the documents and need an alternative format, please email ina@durham.gov.uk.

Key Messages:

In County Durham:

  • Around 1 in 5, five-year-old children have decay experience, this is 20.3% (2021/22). This is statistically similar to the North East and England.
  • The rate of hospital admissions for dental caries ( five-year-olds) is 398.5 per 100,000. This is around 120 admissions per year (2020/21 – 2022/23).
  • The mean number of teeth in five-year-olds that were either actively decayed or had been filled or extracted in 0.8. This is statistically similar to North East and England.

Data report:

Other intelligence tools

Links to strategies and plans

Oral Health Promotion Strategy

Evidence base ‘what works’

Links to other data